


The Lost Princesses

by HikariMelody



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is a sap, Angst, Awkward First Dating, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Catradora forever!!, Character Pasts, Childhood Trauma, Comedy, Drama, Eternia, Etheria - Freeform, F/F, Fanart, Glimbow, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian, Love, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Mythology - Freeform, Original Character(s), Origins, Outer Space, Past Child Abuse, Plot, Post-Canon, Racism, Redemption, Romance, Scorfuma, Slow Burn, catradora, mild cat stuff, runestones, seamista - Freeform, season 6, space travel, spinnetossa, what happens next
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HikariMelody/pseuds/HikariMelody
Summary: Adora placed one of her hands on the floor by Catra's hip and leaned closer to her. She raised her hand that wasn't supporting her up and placed it on Catra's cheek. She stroked the short soft fur that lined her skin, turning her gaze back to Adora. Adora's smug grin turned to a gentle smile. “Please? I would be honored to call you my girlfriend.”--Have you ever wondered who exactly is She-Ra? Have you ever wondered about the origin of the runestones or wondered who exactly is Horde Prime and what his connection is to Eternia? These are the questions Adora and rest of the Best Friend Squad have and will soon be revealed all the while they try to navigate their first romantic relationship which is a challenge within itself. They will learn the pasts they never knew about each other and maybe while searching for answers, they learn how to save someone they thought they lost forever.--“It's okay, Catra. I already promised you that I won't let anything bad happen to you and I am keeping my promise. All my promises to you.” She pressed a kiss to Catra's mouth.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 113
Kudos: 136





	1. A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Catradora is canon! It has been months and I am still in shock that we actually got undeniable confirmation of that. This is going to be written like a season 6 and going to answer many questions we may still have such as:
> 
> The origin of magic on Etheria  
> The origin of their runestones  
> The origin of She-Ra and Eternia  
> The origin of Horde Prime and his connection to She-Ra/Eternia  
> Several character pasts such as Catra's, Adora's, Scorpia's, and more  
> And maybe save a certain someone who is trapped in a portal
> 
> I will be using some things from He-Man, but toss out any info you may know about He-Man and Eternia. I am not going to call this a crossover because I am completely rewriting the origin. She-Ra completely rewrote the original plot line, so I will continue to do the same. Everything will be canon compliant to the existing info shown within the show except for one minor tweak. More runestones will be added, including Netossa and Spinnerella having ones, but why we haven't seen them yet as well as their kingdoms will be explained. Also I suggest you read the She-Ra graphic novel The Fire Princess because I will be referencing it this fic. If you haven't, that's fine. I'll explain the important points in it, but just warning you if you don't want to be spoiled.
> 
> I'm going to put this at a T rating for now, but I am thinking about changing it to E if enough people are interested.

**Chapter 1**

**A New Beginning**

Catra grabbed Adora's outstretched hand and pressed her forehead against hers, purring.

“It's over. He's gone,” said Adora.

“Good riddance.”

Finally there was no more Horde. No need for a rebellion. There weren't any sides anymore. Just Catra and Adora, side by side, as it always should have been. They were basking in the light and closeness until they were interrupted by Glimmer and Bow pouncing on them. They fell to the surprisingly soft grass and laid there, laughing.

“So... What are we going to do now?” asked Bow as he sat up and turned to them.

Adora stared up at the sky and smiled brightly. “We could bring magic back to the universe.” She narrowed her eyebrows in excitement of the thought of adventure. “What do you guys say to one more best friend squad road trip?”

They stood up and were immediately pulled into a group hug.

“I'm in!” exclaimed Glimmer.

“Obviously,” said Bow.

“Of course I am going with you, dummy,” said Catra.

“Let's do this. Together,” said Adora.

They jolted apart when they heard mass screaming.

“Brothers! Calm down. We are free now,” said Wrong Hordak to the clones that were standing around.

“I cannot hear anyone's thoughts!” some clones exclaimed. “Where is Prime? He will know what to do!” “I am alone!” “How will he know we are loyal now?”

“Uhhh... I better go help him with that,” said Glimmer before teleporting over to him.

“Should I go help her with that?” asked Adora.

  
  
“Adora, you just saved us all. You can relax a bit and let us handle this,” said Bow. He clapped his hands together. “We should have a party! Catra, you've never been to a party, right?”

“I had a party. In the Crimson Waste.”

“That was when you kidnapped me. That wasn't much of a party,” scuffed Adora. “We should have a real party.”

“A party? Ooh. What fun,” said Perfuma as she approached them with Scorpia, Frosta, Mermista, and Sea Hawk in tow.

“A party? Shouldn't we be taking care of all of this first?” said Mermista as she gestured to the clones and the ships.

“That can wait. This is cause for celebration!” shouted Sea Hawk.

“Also why is that one with us now?” asked Mermista as she pointed at Catra.

“Oh. That's right. You were chipped for awhile. Catra has been on our side for some time now,” said Adora. “In fact,” she slung her arm over Catra's shoulder, “we're-”

“Parties! How does that work? Do we need to do anything?” interrupted Catra, turning to Perfuma.

Adora narrowed her eyes at Catra, but did not say anything. Soon everybody was buzzing about the party and it was decided to just be a quick celebration of their victory before fixing everything up. Most of their kingdoms were in shambles from the war, but that was something they could start work on tomorrow.

Glimmer teleported them all back to their hiding place in the cave where they all began to set up everything. Some got to work on setting up decorations, some began to move the clutter out of the way, and some started cooking. Adora and Catra began to help with moving the clutter. Every time Adora tried to talk to Catra, she ran off to help with another task. They had just shared a big moment together and they had yet to talk about it.

The next time Catra passed by her, Adora grabbed her hand and pulled her into the other room. The room was small and mostly full of crates. No one hardly came into it, so it gave them some privacy.

“Adora, what are y-” She was cut off by Adora kissing her. They separated after a few moments.

“Can we do that some more?” asked Adora breathlessly.

Catra's eyes widened and she stared at her for a few seconds before pouncing. Their mouths clashed together as Catra wrapped her arms over the back of Adora's neck and shoulders. One of Catra's legs found itself hooked to Adora's thigh. For a moment, Catra was embarrassed by this position then Adora began to run her hands over her back and Catra forgot about that thought. It felt so natural to be wrapped around each other, their mouths moving together. Neither of them could hold onto a thought for more than a second when their tongues wrapped together. They did, however, need air.

They broke apart and gasped for breath. They stared into each other's eyes, memorized. Adora backed up and sat on the crate behind her, slowly pulling Catra along with her. Catra tentatively sat on Adora's lap, her legs bracketing Adora's. Their eyes moved to each other's lips then they were touching again. The kisses quickly heating up again and their hands finding purchase on the other's back.

~*~

“Have you seen Catra? She was supposed to take those boxes out of the way,” said Frosta.

“No. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Adora in a bit either,” replied Glimmer.

“They are probably around here. Let's go look,” said Bow.

Bow, Glimmer, and Frosta looked around the main room, but neither of them could be seen. They went into the makeshift kitchen to find Perfuma teaching Scorpia how to cook.

“Can you cut the carrots, Scorpia?” asked Perfuma.

“No problem.” She turned to the counter that was covered in an assortment of different vegetables and fruit. “Only... which of these were carrots again?”

Perfuma stirred a boiling pot on the stovetop and checked on a sizzling skillet. “The orange ones.”

Scorpia held up a carrot in one claw and an orange in another and looked back and forth between the two. “Hmmmm...”

“It's that one,” said Frosta, pointing at the carrot.

Scorpia set the orange down and ruffled her hair. “Thanks, little buddy.”

“Have either of you seen Adora or Catra?” asked Glimmer.

“Not since earlier.”

“Perhaps they went outside for some air,” suggested Perfuma.

Glimmer, Bow, and Frosta exited the cave to check. Rows upon rows of clones sat on the ground outside with Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak standing at the front. Entrapta and Wrong Hordak were energetically talking about how Horde Prime was a false ruler while Hordak stood beside them, interrupting every so often to better explain what they meant.

As they walked back inside, Glimmer noticed a storage closet and opened the door just to check as it was the last place in the cave they hadn't checked since there weren't many rooms inside the cave. Glimmer and Bow's eyes widened to find Catra sitting on Adora's lap, embracing and heavily making out with her.

“She's eating her face!” exclaimed Frosta.

Catra yelped in surprise and fell backwards. Adora grabbed at her waist in reaction, but ended up falling with her.

“You're squishing me!” said Catra as she pushed Adora into a sitting position then sitting up herself.

Adora burst out laughing. “I tried to catch you, but you flailed!” she said breathlessly between laughs. She turned to Frosta. “Don't worry. That wasn't against my will in the slightest.”

“You were _letting_ her eat your face?” asked Frosta, astounded.

“I wasn't eating her face!” shouted Catra.

“I knew you two were close, but I didn't know it was _this_ close!” said Glimmer in shock.

“Wait. Are you telling me that you two were exes this entire time and now you are back together? Because that would actually explain a lot,” said Bow in an equal amount of shock.

“No. We're too stupid for that. It took almost dying for us to confess. It was Catra's kiss that healed me and now we are together,” replied Adora, turning to smile at Catra.

Catra's face was completely red. She looked away to stare at the floor. “I don't remember agreeing to that. All I did was say... love you or whatever... And we kissed,” mumbled Catra.

Adora narrowed her eyes in confusion as Catra continued to mumble then Adora hit the side of her fist into the palm of her hand when it dawned on her. She placed one of her hands on the floor by Catra's hip and leaned closer to her. Catra's voice came to a halt at the position. “Catra, do you want to go out with me?” she asked confidently.

Catra's mouth suddenly became dry and she swallowed audibly. “Do you have to say that with so much bravado?”

“But it's working, isn't it?” Adora smiled smugly at her.

Catra's heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure everyone could hear it. She returned her gaze to the floor. She hated the fact that she was right. “Shut up.”

Adora raised her hand that wasn't supporting her up and placed it on Catra's cheek. She stroked the short soft fur that lined her skin, turning her gaze back to Adora. Adora's smug grin turned to a gentle smile. “Please? I would be honored to call you my girlfriend.”

For a moment, Catra forgot about their audience. All she could see was Adora. She leaned forward to place a quick kiss on her lips. Her hands found Adora's shoulders and clutched the fabric of her jacket. “I would love that.”

Adora flung her arms around Catra and pulled her into a tight hug. “Now it's official.” Adora turned to Glimmer, Bow, and Frosta. “Hey, guys! I want you to meet my girlfriend, Catra.”

“That's great!” shouted Bow, his voice cracking.

“That makes this party like your first date!” exclaimed Glimmer. She pulled Catra up. “That means make over time! Bow, you take care of Adora.”

“What? Why do I get the hard one?”

Glimmer teleported away with Catra in tow. Catra fell to hands and knees from the nausea. “You know, I was kinda in the middle of something,” said Catra.

“You can do that later. This is exciting. You need to get dressed up,” said Glimmer.

“Can't I just wear what I'm wearing or the suit I wore to Princess Prom?”

Glimmer scoffed. “This is a special event. You need something new. Ooh. You could wear a dress.”

Catra scowled at her as she stood up. “I don't _do_ dresses, Sparkles.”

“But you never wore a dress before. That would make it special. I bet Adora would love to see you in a dress. Don't you want to look pretty for Adora?”

Glimmer pulled Catra into a clothing store she now noticed she had been teleported in front of. The store was filled with racks and racks of dresses of every color imaginable. There were shelves full of hats, shoes, and purses. Catra had never seen so much clothes in one place in her life. Behind the counter stood a woman with dark skin, pointed ears, and straight dark red hair to her shoulders.

“Queen Glimmer! It is so wonderful to see you again,” said the woman as she walked over to them.

“Catra, this is Costuma. She is the best tailor in all of Bright Moon. She is the one who makes all my clothes, including the dresses Adora and I wore to Princess Prom,” introduced Glimmer. “Costuma, can you help me make Catra beautiful?”

“I'll see what I can do.”

“Hey! Wait!” shouted Catra before Costuma pulled her away into one of the dressing rooms.

Catra lost count of how many dresses she was shoved into and scowled at her captors. She refused to allow them to put her into a frilly pink dress and then later a sparkly blue dress.

“This one is perfect!” exclaimed Glimmer when Catra exited the dressing room.

Catra looked down at the silky black dress. The dress sleeves were at her upper arms, showing off her bare shoulders. The dress flowed out at her hips with the hem reaching her knees. One thing Catra discovered about dresses is that they made her tail feel very free.

“This one?”

“Yes. It looks a lot like the dress Adora described you wearing that one time.”

“Wait. What?”

Glimmer waved off the question. “Not important. Now you need some shoes.”

Catra crossed her arms. “I'll accept the dress, but I do not do shoes. I hate my toes being confined.”

“That isn't a problem,” said Costuma. She ran off then returned a few moments later with black open toe sandals. They didn't have a heel and had ankle straps. “Try these on?”

Catra relented and put them on. She looked at her reflection and almost didn't recognize herself with short hair and in a dress. Perhaps that was the point. She did want to try to change and maybe changed Catra wore dresses. She stuck her tongue out at her reflection in the mirror. _Or maybe not._ “I am still not a fan of dresses, but I guess I'll wear one for a party.”

Glimmer cheered in excitement. Catra changed back into her clothes and they teleported back to the cave after Glimmer paid. Catra felt nauseous again and was startled when she felt her back being rubbed. She turned to see Adora was beside her.

“Are you okay?” asked Adora.

“Yeah. I'm fine now,” she replied as she leaned against Adora's chest and purred.

“You went to Costuma? Can you teleport us there, too? It'll take us at least an hour to walk there. We have no idea where Swift Wind has gone off to. Sea Hawk set Adora's dress on fire while you two were gone,” said Bow.

Catra stepped back and scanned Adora for burns or singed hair. Adora laughed. “I'm fine. It was an accident. But that dress is ruined now. It was the red one I wore to Princess Prom. I really liked that one.”

“I'll come with you. Catra, can you check on everything? Thanks,” said Glimmer before teleporting away with Bow and Adora without waiting for Catra to reply.

Catra frowned. She had been a Force Captain and was used to checking on the ranks, only now it was a bit different because it was for a party and not for a war. She laid the bag containing her dress on her cot and put the box of shoes on top of it before beginning to check on everyone. Frosta, Mermista, and Sea Hawk had cleared out the largest room in the cave and were now working on stringing up lights and banners. Netossa, Spinnerella, and Castaspella were setting up tables and chairs off to the side. Some of the clones had joined them and were bringing food out from the kitchen and placing it on the tables.

Catra entered the kitchen to see Scorpia carefully chopping some peppers with a large knife in her claws and Perfuma stirring what looked to be some kind of sauce in a pot on the stovetop. Catra exited the cave to see Micah, Entrapta, Hordak, and Wrong Hordak standing in front of a crowd of clones and doing what seemed to be a Q&A section about Etheria. Catra leaned up against the rocks of the cave, enjoying the light breeze.

“ _This place is even more wondrous now.”_

Catra turned to see Melog standing beside her. She reached down and pet their head. “I was wondering where you wandered off to.”

“ _I have been exploring it after Adora released the Heart. It is full of so much more magic. It reminds me of how Krytis used to be.”_

“It's weird for there to not be a war anymore. The war has been here through my entire life. It's encompassed my entire life. I'm not sure what to do with myself now that it's over.”

“ _Be happy. Life is what you make of it. Now you are free to do what you want rather than what you are supposed to do.”_

“Perhaps you are right. Adora wants to go on another adventure, but who knows when that will be. We still have a lot to do here.”

“ _You should relax and enjoy being in a peaceful era now.”_

“Peace. I wonder how long that will be for.”

~*~

The brightest moon had set by the time the party started. Catra had changed into the dress and shoes Glimmer had gotten her. The other princesses had changed into dresses themselves, even Entrapta who was wearing a simple short sleeved dark purple dress with black buttons down the chest. One of the princesses probably had talked her into that. Music was playing from Emily and Entrapta was already spinning around the room with Hordak who was moving in a very stilted way with her. Netossa and Spinnerella were dancing together while the rest were eating. Catra gathered some food and sat at a table furthest from everyone else. Adora had yet to return with Glimmer and Bow.

After she finished eating, Catra leaned against one of the walls with a drink in her hand. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it fizzed in her mouth. She stared at the liquid and wondered where Melog had wandered off to now.

“Hey, Catra,” said Adora.

Catra looked up and was surprised to see Adora standing in front of her. She didn't think it was possible for her to be cuter than the first time she saw Adora in a dress at Princess Prom. She was wearing a sleeveless pure white dress that came to the middle of her thighs. Over it was a white sheer fabric with long sleeves that were cinched at her wrists, allowing her arms to still be seen. The fabric stretched out over the entire dress. The ends had golden vines and small flowers sewn into it that climbed up to her waist. She wore sparkly golden rounded platform shoes with a short thick heel with straps around her ankles. Her hair was out of its usual ponytail and flowed down her shoulders. She was the most beautiful person Catra had ever laid her eyes on.

“Wow. You're beautiful,” said Catra before she stopped herself. She held her hand up to mouth and blushed in surprise. She hadn't meant to voice her thoughts.

Adora smiled. “Thank you. You're beautiful, too. I've never seen you in a dress before. It almost looks like my daydream except better.”

“Glimmer mentioned something about that, too. What is that about?”

Adora coughed in embarrassment. “Just a daydream from when we got carried away with planning a strategy... Not important.” A slow song began to play and Adora glanced at the currently empty dance floor. She reached out for Catra's hand. “Want to dance?”

Catra clutched at the drink in her hand. “Maybe that's not a good idea. You're She-Ra and it would look bad to have you seen with an ex-Horde member, especially one as highly ranked as me. People might think you are compromised or something.”

Adora took the cup out of Catra's hand and placed it on the table beside them. “You are thinking too much. Dance with me. I had fun the last time we did and it would be even better without evil scheming involved.”

Adora pulled Catra to the middle of the dance floor. She held Catra's left hand with her right and placed her other on Catra's hip. Catra placed her free hand on Adora's shoulder and they began to sway together. Soon they were smiling and laughing as they spun together on the floor. The other people in the room moved to watch them. They couldn't think of a time they had ever seen Adora smile so brightly or have ever heard Catra laugh in a non-menacing way. Adora easily lifted Catra into the air with her strong arms and Catra would dip her once she was back on her feet. Nothing else mattered except the other in that moment.

The song ended much too soon. Catra began to move away from Adora, but Adora tightened her grip on her hip and pulled her into a kiss. There were gasps and things being dropped in the background. Despite their noisy audience, everything else melted away. All Catra could think about was Adora's lips, but then she was pulling away. “Let them talk,” whispered Adora.

Art done by my friend, Envy. Check out more of his art at https://envyartist.webs.com/


	2. Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit longer than I expected it to take to write, but I did it. :) I want to preemptively apologize for Mermista in this. She is one of my favorite characters, but she did lose her kingdom and probably other things to the Horde, so it's probably going to take awhile to gain her trust.
> 
> As for the next chapter, my plan is to get it out within the next two weeks. Stay tuned for it. :)

**Chapter 2**

**Dawn**

“ _Adora! Please you have to wake up!”_

_Catra clung to Adora. She had never seen Adora so still in her life. She was always running off and having to make noise. Even while asleep, she would toss and turn and mumble nonsense. The bright green streaks covering her skin were continuing to spread._

“ _You can't give up. You have never given up on anything in your life. Not even on me.”_

_Catra stroked the side of Adora's face and ran her fingers through her hair. No reaction. Even in Adora's sleep, such an action would cause her to twitch._

“ _So, don't you dare start now!”_

_Tears pricked at Catra's eyes and there was a tightness in her throat that threatened to suffocate her._

“ _It's too late. I've failed,” whispered Adora._

_It was barely audible, but Catra's keen sense of hearing picked it up. Hope welled in Catra's chest to hear Adora's voice after her hardly breathing for the last few minutes. She pulled her close to her chest and clutched her tightly as if trying to pass some of her life to Adora._

“ _No! No! I've got you. I'm not letting go.”_

_Catra threw caution to the wind. She couldn't bare to see Adora like this anymore and was willing to confess her heart out to her if that meant she wouldn't leave her._

“ _Don't you get it? I love you. I always have. So, please, just this once... Stay! Stay.”_

_Adora's eyes opened. Her usual bright blue eyes were almost completely gray and stared into Catra's eyes with a blank expression._

“ _It's not enough,” said Adora._

_Adora's eyes closed and she stopped breathing. Adora the champion. Adora, their savior. Adora the chosen one. Adora... her best friend and the girl she couldn't imagine living in a world without. She always seemed so strong, so unobtainable, and so invincible. Even when they were on opposite sides of the war, Catra was sure Adora would be fine because she always was. Now she was growing cold in Catra's arms. The Heart of Etheria was whirring loudly and lightening booming out of it._

_Catra closed her eyes and let it take her because there was no point in continuing without Adora by her side._

~*~

Catra bolted upright, breathing heavily. She was sweating profusely. Disoriented, she blinked several times to become aware of her surroundings. She ran her hand through her short hair, claws pricking at her scalp. She was no longer at the Heart. She was sitting on her cot in the dark cave.

She glanced over to her left. Adora had pushed her cot up against hers last night after the party. She was curled up on her side, facing Catra. She was quietly snoring, blissfully unaware of Catra's turmoil. Catra reached for Adora's face and lightly ran her fingertips over her cheek and nose. Adora crinkled her nose in response and halfheartedly swatted at her hand in her sleep.

“ _Are you alright?”_ asked Melog.

Catra sighed. “How can she sleep so soundly after everything that happened yesterday? How can any of them?”

Melog jumped onto the edge of her bed.

“ _It is late. You should go back to sleep. I will keep your nightmares away.”_

“You can do that?”

“ _There is many things I can do. This is just one of them. Now sleep.”_

Catra laid back down and turned to face Adora. She brought her legs up and tucked her chin in the gap between her chest and legs. She stared at Adora's sleeping face, afraid to close her eyes and her nightmare to be true. That Adora had died at the heart and Catra was too late to finally be honest with her. Despite how uneasy Catra felt, her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off back to sleep.

~*~

“Bright Moon is in better shape than I thought it would be in,” said Glimmer as she walked around the courtyard.

“That's because we didn't stay here very long after Horde Prime came. This place was too obvious, so we had to evacuate,” said Adora.

That morning they had woken up early and had packed up camp. They had used skiffs to help move everything back to Bright Moon. It was mayhem, but their day had barely started.

“I can't wait to finally be back in my bed. I have missed it so much.”

  
  
“Well, that's going to have to wait because we have a lot to discuss now that Horde Prime is gone,” said Netossa as she came up to them.

“You're right. I'm dreading this, but we need to get this done now,” replied Glimmer.

“What are you talking about?” asked Adora.

“I'm talking about what we should do about all these ex-Horde members,” replied Netossa.

They began to round up the other princesses and Micah from the crowd that were still in the process of unloading camp.

“What's going on?” asked Catra as she reached for Adora's hand.

“We are going to have a meeting now that there isn't a Horde anymore.”

Catra squeezed Adora's hand and went stiff. Adora brought Catra's hand up to her mouth and placed a kiss on it.

“Don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

A small smile played at Catra's lips. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

They walked hand in hand down the hallways to the War Room. Catra glanced around at the pink and purple walls and high ceilings. Beautiful artwork covered the walls and crystals hung from the ceiling. It was so different from the dank metallic walls with its dripping pipes and vents releasing an unpleasant odor that Catra was used to from the Fright Zone.

“What do you think you're doing?” asked Mermista, blocking the door to the War Room.

“Going to the meeting?” replied Adora in confusion.

“Not with her.” Mermista pointed at Catra. “This is a government meeting, so princesses only.”

“Don't I get a say in what happens to me?” asked Catra, her fur fluffing up.

“The government is run by the royals and the non-royals have to follow it. That's how it works.”

“Don't we get a representative, though?”

“Uh. You're a beastfolk, so that means that Scorpia is your princess. Or queen... I doubt she has had her coronation yet. Either way, that makes her your representative.”

Catra paled at that. She hoped Scorpia still liked her, but she had treated her awfully and wouldn't blame her for keeping a grudge. She did deserve it.

“I'll talk to Glimmer about this,” said Adora, placing her hands on Catra's shoulders and pulling her into a half-hug.

Glimmer leaned out the doorway around Mermista. “I'm sorry, but she's right. This is a government meeting. The first proper one in a long time.” She turned to Bow who was standing behind Catra and Adora. “Sorry, Bow, but that goes for you, too. We might be dating, but we aren't married, so that means you can't attend either.”

“What?” squeaked Bow. “But I have always attended the Rebellion meetings.”

“Wait. When did you two start dating?” asked Adora in surprise, pointing between the two of them.

“They weren't before?” deadpanned Catra.

“Sorry, Bow, but this isn't the same as a Rebellion meeting. Why don't you show Catra around the castle? Assign her a bedroom, too,” said Glimmer.

Mermista raised an eyebrow to Glimmer. “You're giving her a bedroom?”

“Well we aren't going to throw her to the street. We even gave Shad... I mean... Less pleasant of people ones. I don't see why we can't give her one.”

Catra stood stiff and hugged herself. It was partially because she was practically being compared to Shadow Weaver. The rest was the seeming distrust and disdain the others seemed to hold for her. She knew she had done a lot of bad things before and what she had already done seemed meaningless to them. It would never be enough.

Adora placed her hands on Catra's cheeks and stroked her cheeks, effectively pulling her out of her self-loathing thoughts. “It's okay, Catra. I already promised you that I won't let anything bad happen to you and I am keeping my promise. All my promises to you.” She pressed a kiss to Catra's mouth.

~*~

“Looks like everyone is here now,” said Glimmer.

Scorpia glanced around the room. “But there are still empty chairs. I thought this was a meeting for all the princesses. Shouldn't they be filled?”

Perfuma placed her hand on Scorpia's arm. “One of those is for Prince Peekablue who we have still yet to locate.”

“The other one is for Queen June Bug. Her daughter, Sweet Bee, could also represent the Kingdom of Aegean, but they usually stick to themselves rather than participate in these things,” said Glimmer.

“But there are three empty chairs,” replied Scorpia.

“The last chair is for the Kingdom of Shadows. They have never appeared for any government meetings nor have I ever had any contact with them. Many believe that the kingdom doesn't even actually exist,” explained Micah.

“But aren't there more princesses than that? There were so many people at the Princess Prom.”

“Actually those were all nobles, duchesses, and such that help run Etheria. Not actual princesses,” said Entrapta while staring intently at her kicking feet under the table. They didn't quite touch the floor unless she slouched, which she didn't because she had been informed numerous times that it was considered rude.

“The Horde never told us about these things. They just told us that princesses were bad and needed to be taken out and that I was the only exception. But really, I don't know anything about my heritage.”

“Which brings us to our topic today. What are we to do with the ex-Horde members?” said Glimmer, bringing everyone's attention to the head of the table.

“What's there to talk about? They committed a crime, so they should be tossed into jail,” said Mermista.

“They are still people, Mermista. Several of which helped us defeat Prime.”

“That doesn't undo what they already have done. They didn't care that we were people when they were attacking us!”

“That doesn't mean we should do the same to them.”

Mermista stood up and slammed her hands on the table. “So they did a few good deeds? Well gold star for them. That won't bring lives back!”

“Neither will punishing them.”

Mermista's hands clenched, fingernails scrapping over the mahogany. “My mother... My little brother...”

Glimmer looked at the ground, thinking of her own mother. “Many of us have lost loved ones during this.”

“My brother was _three_! I was _seven_ when he was killed by a Horde soldier!” Mermista gestured in the general area where Scorpia and Entrapta sat beside each other. “How could we possibly forgive them for that?”

Tears pooled in Scorpia's eyes and began to drip down her cheeks. “I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, but... If you were a child when that happened, then I would have been a child, too.”

Entrapta placed a hand on Scorpia's arm and awkwardly patted it. She stared intently at her hand as she spoke, “And I wasn't part of the Horde back then. I lost my father to the Horde as well.”

“Oh yeah? So did they! As well as their mothers!” yelled Mermista as she gestured to Perfuma, Frosta, Netossa, and Spinnerella.

“Mermista, _stop_. I'm sorry that you lost people you cared about, but it's not fair to blame them for crimes they did not do,” interrupted Adora.

“They were part of the Horde, so clearly that didn't bother them before when they didn't know who the people they were hurting were.”

“Then what about me? I was the part of the Horde! If that is standard you are placing, then I am just as guilty.”

“That's different.”

“How? Because I'm She-Ra? I didn't change because I was She-Ra. I believed all the lies they told us and hated princesses just like any other member. I only changed because I was able to escape the Horde.”

“Can everyone sit back down? Let's keep this meeting civil,” said Glimmer.

“And why should I calm down?” retorted Mermista.

“You want to be a stickler for the government rules? Then I am Head Queen and I order you to sit down.”

Mermista huffed and sat back down.

“Head Queen?” whispered Scorpia to Perfuma in confusion.

Perfuma turned and looked wide eyed at her. “They didn't even teach you that in the Horde?” When Scorpia shook her head, she continued, “There are different tiers to the kingdoms. Glimmer is the Queen of Bright Moon, which is at the very top. After that is the Kingdom of Snows, which is Frosta, and then after that is Mermista's Kingdom, Salineas. The rest of the kingdoms are pretty much on the same level after that point.”

“That's not completely true,” commented Netossa in a low voice. “The Fright Zone, Dryl, and the Kingdom of Shadows are considered the lowest tier.”

“That's because I'm the only princess without a runestone. The rest of the kingdoms have one,” added Entrapta.

“But I do have one. So why am I considered low tier?” asked Scorpia. She glanced around the room when everyone went silent and wouldn't meet her eyes. She looked down at her claws. “...Oh. Right. Because of this.” She raised her claws.

Perfuma placed her hands on Scorpia's claws and said, “The past has not always been kind to the beastfolk.”

“So, because of that, Entrapta and I are on the same level of a kingdom that might not even exist?”

“Well it is said that the Kingdom of Shadows are allies with the Fright Zone and Dryl,” explained Micah. “Those kingdoms have really only ever stayed to themselves and have never shown up for government meetings either. The Fright Zone and Dryl were the only ones who even knew how to contact the Kingdom of Shadows.”

“Well my family died when I was really young, so I have no idea how to contact them,” replied Scorpia.

“Neither do I. I was nine when I became in charge of Dryl,” added Entrapta.

A hush came to the room. No one seemed to dare fill the silence.

Frosta cleared her throat and said, “I can't be the only one to notice that all the members of the Horde are members of the low tier kingdoms.”

“Maybe that's why they were low tier to begin with,” remarked Mermista.

“Or _maybe_ that's because we never gave them the chance to be anything else. Almost all of the Horde were beastfolk and humans.”

“I think Frosta is right. I was only fourteen when the Horde came to Etheria and took over the Fright Zone. The kingdom had sent out a distress call for help, but only Dryl came to its aid,” said Micah.

“But it wasn't enough. My kingdom was never very big. My father went there with as many people as he could get. None of them ever returned,” replied Entrapta.

Spinnerella bunched the fabric of her pants in her hands. “I was only five at the time, but I remember my parents receiving that distress call and dismissing it as not their problem. A few years later, the princess of the Fright Zone appeared before my parents with her wife, holding Scorpia as a baby. They had pleaded with my parents to help them get the Horde out of their kingdom. They dismissed them again,” said Spinnerella as she began to cry from the memory. Netossa placed her hand on Spinnerella's shoulder.

“My parents did the same when they asked them. They didn't think it was their issue, but then the Horde invaded our kingdoms when we were teenagers. They burned our homes to the ground. Spinnerella and I were one of the few who were able to escape. Bright Moon opened their doors to us. It was then we decided that we weren't going to be like our parents and joined the Princess Alliance. When someone attacks a kingdom, it should be all of Etheria's problem. We should all be in this together,” said Netossa.

“Alright. I've decided,” announced Glimmer. They all turned to her in surprise. “I think all the Horde members should get a second chance. That's why they will all be given a year of community service. Anyone who doesn't cooperate with that might be given an additional sentence based on a case by case basis.”

“That's it? They get a slap on the wrist and move on their merry way?” asked Mermista in annoyance.

“Well we _could_ lock them up so we never have to see them again, but who would that help? They were taught to think a certain way and only that way. Adora _still_ struggles with talking about emotions. Scorpia doesn't even know how her own government works. The clones had their very thoughts monitored. They never had a chance to be anything else. So we are going to give them that chance.”

“What about the ones that we know who did more damages than other ones? Like for instance the magicat who has been hanging off Adora's side. Is making out with She-Ra all it takes to be forgiven for breaking the very fabric of reality?”

Glimmer held up a hand before Adora began to yell. “You have a point, Mermista. The higher up operatives should get a bigger sentence.” She turned to Entrapta. “I'll start with the leader of the Horde on Etheria and the person who was making the inventions to hurt us.” Entrapta stared at the floor intently even as Glimmer walked up to her. “I am assigning you and Hordak to a very special project. Instead of making inventions to _destroy_ Etheria, I am going to have you create inventions to _help_ it.”

Entrapta looked up at Glimmer in surprise. “You want me to invent things?”

“Of course it will be under the watchful eyes of us to ensure you don't get carried away or get off task, but yes. I want you to use your gifts to make Etheria better. Can I trust you with that?”

A smile slowly grew on Entrapta's lips. “Of course. You can count on us.”

Glimmer turned to the rest of the people in the room. “Now as for the Second-in-Command of the Horde, Catra, I am assigning her to be under the watch of She-Ra, the Head Queen of Etheria, and their most trusted archer for an indefinite amount of time to be rehabilitated.”

Mermista scuffed. “That's just you, Adora, and Bow.”

“Yes it is and I think that is the best place for her to be to get better. That's the point of giving them all a second chance. Is everyone in favor of this plan?”

Everyone in the room raised their hand in approval, even Mermista after sighing again.

“Then it's decided. We will start with fixing up the Fright Zone to locate the remaining Horde members to give them their sentence and finally make that place into the beautiful kingdom it once was.”

~*~

Catra hugged her legs tightly to her chest and stared at the sky. A light breeze blew through her hair on the hill she sat on. Bow sat beside her, tapping away on his tracker pad. His face had been glued to it nearly the entire time they were together, even when Bow had given her the grand tour of the castle. She hadn't asked him why, but she couldn't blame him if the reason was because he didn't want to interact with her alone.

“It seems so much brighter now,” said Catra in the silence.

Bow glanced up at the sky then went back to his tracker pad. “Yeah. It's been like that since we left Despondos. There is now that large bright star in the sky. I don't know what it is, but it shines brighter than any of our moons. It's probably going to get hotter during the summer now.”

Glimmer suddenly appeared in front of them, awkwardly carrying Adora. It didn't look like she had been expecting to be teleported.

“Lesbian delivery system!” announced Glimmer as she unceremoniously dropped Adora.

“Hey!” shouted Adora after she landed. She glared at Glimmer, but it didn't look very threatening when her face was completely red.

“We have things to talk about, Bow.” Glimmer grabbed Bow then teleported away.

Adora stood up and dusted herself off. “How was your time with Bow?”

“It was fine I guess. How was the meeting?” asked Catra.

Adora sat down beside her. “We talked about a lot of things and it was decided that all the members will get community service for a year.”

Catra turned to Adora in shock. “That's it?”

“Well... Not quite. No one is absolved from it. I know you helped us a lot recently. Me and Glimmer probably wouldn't even be alive right now if it wasn't for you... But they did make a point that it doesn't undo the things that did happen. So it's been decided that your community service will be for an indefinite amount of time. I'm sorry.”

Catra played with the frayed edges at the bottom of her pants. “No. It's okay, Adora. I accept my punishment.”

“Really?”

Catra leaned her head onto Adora's shoulder. “Of course. I told you I want to change and if that's what needs to be done for others to accept it, then that's what I will do.”

Adora pulled her into a hug. “I love you so much. I promise that I'm staying by your side from now on.”

Catra purred. “I love you, too. I'm not going anywhere either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for any clarification if you need it, anyone who is an animal humanoid is classified as a “beastfolk”. There is some distinction to different subsections such as Catra is a magicat and Scorpia is a scorpioni. Anyone with fish parts, horns, or wings falls under a different classification. Yes it is completely arbitrary. Racism often is.


	3. Pining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! :D This one is a little more than 1 ½ chapters, but I couldn't break it up as it would effect the flow of the story. I am sure you guys will enjoy a longer chapter anyways. Lol Being this is only chapter 3, it's pretty much half the story so far and we haven't even gotten to the actual plot yet. Lol Like before, I am going to try to get the next chapter out within two weeks.

**Chapter 3**

**Pining**

“This place is in worse shape than I remember it being,” said Glimmer.

She nudged a metal slab that looked to once be a part of a door with her foot. The ground was covered with shattered glass, broken pipes, and various other crushed materials. It was all covered in a layer of dirt and grime.

“This is an improvement. Trust me,” responded Catra as she surveyed the Fright Zone entrance. “Shouldn't I be helping with locating the rest of the Horde members?”

“Relax. Hordak and my aunt can handle that. Your sentence is with us.”

Catra turned to look at them. “No one mentioned I was being babysat.”

Adora shrugged and pointedly looked away when Catra turned to look at her. Her tail twitched in annoyance.

“Aw. C'mon, Catra. You're part of the Best Friend Squad now. It's going to be a blast,” said Bow.

Glimmer clapped her hands together in excitement. “Why don't you and Adora give us a tour?”

“You want a tour?” asked Adora with a raised eyebrow.

“Well yeah. You two grew up here, so you probably know this place inside and out. I've been here before, but never really had a chance to look around when I was being chased by Horde soldiers. I want to see your childhood home.”

They carefully walked around the debris on the ground into the building. Though _into_ wasn't quite the right word as the hallway they were in no longer had a ceiling. Several of the clones had come with them and they were already at work picking up the trash off the ground. The other princesses were helping while also keeping an eye on them. It was hard keeping track of all the clones because they all looked alike, but none of them had negatively reacted to their sentence yet.

Adora and Catra walked through different rooms as they showed Glimmer and Bow around the Fright Zone. They ducked under hanging wires and dodged jagged rods. The place was in shambles from the major battles that had taken place in it over the last few months.

“And this is the mess hall,” said Adora as she gestured to the relatively still intact room they were in.

“And that's the hole Shadow Weaver put in the wall when I called her a bitch,” said Catra as she pointed at a dent near the ceiling in the corner of the room.

They began to walk down the hall and Adora and Catra would point out different rooms as they passed.

“And that's the storeroom I would hide in to cry.”

“That's the room I would take naps in when cutting class.”

“This is the room we were told not to go in.”

“So naturally we went in that room before. Not that interesting, though. Mostly filled with jars Shadow Weaver used in her spells that smell awful.”

“That's the communal showers.”

“And that's the soap closet we locked Kyle in. He was there for awhile. Kinda forgot he was there.”

“Well I gotta say this is the weirdest tour I've ever been on,” whispered Glimmer to Bow.

“This was our bedroom. We shared it with our other squad members as well as other Horde members our ages.”

Catra jumped onto one of the beds and lounged on it. “We should bring my bed back. Those beds in the castle look way too squishy.”

“Catra, that is my bed. Yours was that one,” replied Adora as she pointed at the top bunk of it.

“And tell me, Adora. How many times did I sleep in that bed?”

“Like three times in our entire lives.”

“Exactly.” Catra spread out on in like a starfish. “This is our bed.”

Adora placed her hands on the bars of the top bunk and hovered over Catra. “It's been awhile since I've even seen my bed. I sort of missed it.” The mattress was firm and lumpy at places. The sheets were starchy and smelled like mothballs. It was nothing like her soft bed in Bright Moon that always had clean lavender scented sheets put on it daily from the maids. There was so much familiarity and nostalgia from her childhood bed, though. “Hey. What happened to our drawings?”

Catra didn't even turn to look at the drawings covered in claw marks. “I got mad at it.”

Adora let go of the bars and walked around the bed. She sat on the edge and ran her fingers over the markings. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay, Adora. I'm not mad anymore.” Catra placed her hand over Adora's. “I'm sorry for ruining our drawings.”

Adora pressed a kiss to Catra's cheek. “It's okay. We can make more.”

“Awwww,” squealed Glimmer and Bow in the background.

“Shut up!” yelled Catra as she glared at them.

Adora giggled and threw her arms around Catra's shoulders, knocking her onto the bed. She covered Catra's face with kisses while she objected. Despite the protests, Catra clang to Adora's jacket and held her in place rather than push her away.

“You're so grumpy,” snickered Adora as she pulled away to look at Catra's reddened face.

“Am not.”

“Greetings, brothers. I was sent to fetch you,” said one of the clones who now stood in the doorway.

“Are you Wrong Hordak?” asked Glimmer.

“I am not. I was sent by Wrong Hordak to retrieve She-Ra. So I guess you could say I am Wrong Wrong Hordak.”

“Yeah because that's not gonna get confusing at all,” commented Catra.

“You need She-Ra?” inquired Adora.

“Yes. There is this very heavy beam that needs to be moved. We have tried to, but it will not budge,” replied the clone.

Adora sat up and cracked her knuckles. “No problem.” She got off the bed and held her hand up toward the sky. “For the honor of Grayskull!”

The room was filled with light and when it faded, She-Ra now stood in the room. They exited the room and followed the clone to the door of the throne room that was locked.

“Oh. It got closed again. They told me it, however I cannot remember the code,” said the clone.

“Oh. I'm the one who set the code. It's-” began Catra.

“31131418184522518!” shouted She-Ra as she hit the side of the wall in excitement. She looked very proud of herself. “Still got it.”

Catra turned to her in surprise. “How do you remember that number?”

The clone typed in the code and the door opened.

“It actually was that number?” She-Ra giggled.

Glimmer narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What does that number mean?”

“Oh it's the ini-”

Catra put her hand over She-Ra's mouth. “They don't need to know its meaning.” She-Ra giggled again and nodded as they entered the room. “I had to change the codes when Shadow Weaver left and that was the easiest long number to remember. No one else knew it. Thought you forgot it anyways.”

“Of course I remember that number. It's burned into my memory.”

A gigantic beam was laying across the floor right in front of the steps to the throne. She-Ra recognized it as the beam Scorpia had knocked down when she was chipped. She-Ra leaned down and easily lifted the beam onto one of her shoulders.

“Where do you want me to put this?” she asked the clone.

Catra zoned out as she watched She-Ra maneuver the beam back to where it once stood and helped the clones tie several ropes to it to stabilize it. She-Ra began to pick up other objects substantially larger than herself with little effort. Her muscles flexed and her strong back did not buckle under the weight she carried. Even after lifting several things, she had not broken a sweat from the strain.

“Catra? Are you listening?” asked Glimmer as she waved a hand in front of Catra's face. When the movement did not phase her, Glimmer followed Catra's gaze to She-Ra and snorted. Catra yelped when Glimmer poked her side.

“What? What do you want?” growled Catra.

“You're drooling,” she chuckled as she pointed to her own mouth.

“Am not.” Catra wiped her mouth ferociously despite that.

“How about we stop ogling at She-Ra and actually clean as well?” inquired Bow.

Catra grumbled, but began to help pick up the trash on the ground.

~*~

“Have any of you seen Scorpia?” asked Perfuma.

“Nope,” answered Glimmer as she stooped down to pick up a rusty screw on the ground.

“I haven't seen Catra either. Oh. You don't think Catra is bullying Scorpia again?” Perfuma began to nervously play with her hair.

“I don't think that's what's happening,” replied Adora who had changed back to her normal form awhile ago now that the heavy lifting in the room was done.

“But she did it to Scorpia all the time. What is she goes back to that?”

“I mean... She has a point. Wasn't that one of the reasons we were supposed to be watching her?” agreed Bow.

Adora scuffed. “You guys only feel that way because you've really only ever known Force Captain Catra. Once you get a chance to get to know my best friend Catra, who, might I add, is now my girlfriend Catra, you will see these worries are silly."

Glimmer, Bow, and Perfuma stared at Adora. They weren't completely convinced.

“You'll see,” she assured them.

Glimmer dumped the armful of garbage she had gathered into a trash bag then clapped her hands together to clean them. “Anyways... We should go find her. We are supposed to be watching her _and_ she is supposed to be cleaning, not slacking off somewhere.” She gestured to Adora. “Lead the way. I'm sure you would know best where Catra would go.”

Glimmer, Bow, and Perfuma began to follow Adora through hallways and rooms. They checked the bedroom, the roof, and various storerooms Adora knew Catra would hide out in, but all of them were fruitless. As they walked through an empty hallway, they began to hear the light sound of music.

“Music?” questioned Bow.

Adora shrugged. There was never any music playing in the Fright Zone. It was frowned against and seen as a distraction. If they had time to listen to music, then they had time to train. They came to the door of the Black Garnet room and quietly nudged the door open. Inside Entrapta tapped away at a keyboard of a computer that was now in the room. Music was playing from an old boom box on the other side of the room. Scorpia was picking up files on the floor and putting them into crates while Catra sat in the middle of the room drinking straight out of a wine bottle she must have found.

“So... Um... Catra. I've been thinking... Did you want do something after this?” asked Scorpia nervously as she stared intently at the document in her claws.

“Like what?” she asked as she turned to look at her.

“Like... to a restaurant and dancing and... other things.” Her cheeks were burning red.

Catra continued to stare at Scorpia while she refused to meet it. “Like... a date?”

“...Yeah. I guess.”

Bow began to gasp from their place behind the door, but Glimmer quickly covered his mouth and shushed him. Glimmer, Bow, Adora, and Perfuma continued to eavesdrop on their conversation from behind the cracked open door.

Catra sprawled out on the ground and leaned the side of her face on her fist. “Can't. I have a girlfriend or did you miss that part?”

Scorpia anxiously put the file into the box and looked around the floor for another one to occupy herself with. “But... if you didn't... Would you say yes?”

Catra hummed a long note. “So that's what this is about.”

Scorpia finally met Catra's gaze in shock. The redness of her cheeks deepening. “What is what about?”

“You're not trying to ask _me_ out. You are running away from who you _actually_ want to ask out.”

Scorpia looked away and picked up another file.

“It's the blonde one, right? The one with flower powers? What was her name?” continued Catra after Scorpia did not respond for several moments.

Entrapta looked up from her computer. “I thought you were dating the blonde one,” she commented.

Catra made a face and raised her chin to look at Entrapta sitting behind her without moving the rest of her body. “The _other_ blonde one. Wait. How does Adora have flower powers?”

“Didn't flowers sprout when she exited The Heart?”

Catra thought for a moment. “Oh. I guess she kinda does. But I was still referring to the other blonde one. Fragrance? Plum? ...Flower?”

“It's Perfuma,” Scorpia supplied. “But it doesn't matter.” Scorpia put the file she held in one of the crates. “She would never go for someone like me. I'm...” She looked at her claws. “And she's a princess. A beautiful one at that.”

“Why do you think that? You're a princess, too, and she seems to like you.”

“Well... I don't really know what I am doing with this princess business and she is being helpful. I shouldn't misread her kindness. After everything is settled, she will probably go back to her kingdom and that will be that. Besides... she probably doesn't even like girls.”

“Has she ever explicitly said she only likes boys?”

“Well... No.”

Catra pointed at her. “Then you shouldn't assume. Ask her. Nothing will ever change if you keep second guessing yourself like this.”

“I just don't know. I used to have a lot of confidence and I tried really hard to get y- I mean... _this girl_ to like me, but nothing ever worked and she never had any interest in me. So maybe I am not as good at this whole flirting thing as I thought.”

“ _This girl_?” questioned Catra.

Scorpia blushed. “Don't worry about that. You don't know her.”

“It was me.”

“She is definitely someone you have _never_ spoken to.”

Catra hit her face with her palm. “Scorpia... Stop. I know it was me.”

Scorpia looked at her in surprise and whispered, “How did you know?”

Catra's tail twitched in annoyance. “Because I'm not dumb. I've known for awhile. You aren't subtle.”

Scorpia kicked a stone by her foot lightly. “Sorry.”

Catra waved it off. “No. I am. I knew and I treated you worse than you ever deserved because of it.” She sighed. “After Adora left, I didn't want anyone to get close to me again and I took it out on you. It was wrong and I shouldn't have. You were never the problem. I was. So don't beat yourself up over something that was always my issue to work through.”

“If you hadn't, do you think I ever had a chance?”

Catra moved her gaze from Scorpia to the floor. “...No. From the moment we met, I had already known I was in love with Adora for years.”

This time Adora began to make a sound and Glimmer let go of Bow to cover Adora's mouth.

“But what if Adora had never been in the picture?”

“I would be dead.”

Scorpia looked at Catra in exasperation. “No. I mean. If you had never grown up with Adora and didn't personally know her.”

“No. Really. I would be dead. For years. And we would have never met in the first place. Pretty sure the only reason Shadow Weaver didn't kill me as a child was because of Adora. If Adora wasn't there, then I would have had no one and I doubt I would have even gotten out of childhood without her. So there was never a 'what if' scenario. It was always her. Only her. I tried the whole running away thing. For years. Didn't work. So I finally told her and now we are dating. That's why you should stop running away and confess, too.”

Scorpia dropped the file she had just picked up. “Wait... Are you telling me that your crush on Adora was _a secret_?”

Catra's eyes widened. “What? There was no _way_ you knew about that. We started working together _after_ Adora had already left! You never saw us interact outside of battle.”

Entrapta stopped tapping away and looked at Catra. “It was definitely never a secret. I written that in my notes ages ago.”

Catra got up and looked at the screen Entrapta gestured to. “How did you know that? How did either of you?”

“Well, it was rather obvious. I mean... Every time you wrote Adora's name in our plans, you drew hearts around it,” replied Scorpia as she grabbed a board in the room and held it up. It did, in fact, have Adora's name surrounded by hearts written on it.

Glimmer let go of Adora's mouth to cover her own snort. Those two were more uselessly in love than she had realized. When she had spoken to Catra on Horde Prime's ship, she had suspected Catra might have feelings for Adora, but was still unsure how to properly read Catra at the time.

“That was for dramatic effect!” shouted Catra. “You said you were having trouble finding names on our plans, so I made them more obvious. I drew around Glimmer's and Bow's names as well.”

Scorpia held up a different board. “You drew angry faces by their names. Also crossed them out several times. You know... That actually made it harder to follow your plans.”

“What about the dates we went on? We went to Princess Prom together!”

“That was an evil scheme that you entitled 'Kidnap Adora's Dumb Friends So She Doesn't Have To Look At Their Dumb Faces Anymore'. You also said to focus on the boy with the face and the abs who kept hanging off Adora. That took some figuring out who you were even referring to.”

“Okay. Bad example. What about the picnic we went on?”

“That was a mission to spy on Adora. You never even ate the food I brought.”

“What about the time we went bowling?”

“We never made it to the bowling alley. We saw Adora and followed her. You know, I'm starting to sense a pattern here.”

“Okay. So I'm obvious!” Catra huffed. “Not that it mattered. She was still oblivious. I wasted years trying to destroy that feeling and as you can see, I lost.” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Wait. I got the girl. Did I win?” She scratched her head in confusion. “I don't feel like I lost. The scenario where I am dating Adora is definitely not losing, but then again... I am sentenced to cleaning duty and that doesn't feel like winning.”

“To be fair, I haven't seen you clean anything for about the last half hour.”

“Excuse me. I am cleaning out this bottle.” She gestured at the bottle of wine she held. “Not my fault they were not specific when they told me to clean.”

Glimmer growled from behind her hand and whispered, “ _That little shit_.” Bow shushed her as they continued to hide behind the door. Adora and Perfuma had gone silent and completely still from what they had been overhearing.

“So if you loved her the entire time, why didn't you leave the Horde and join the Rebellion sooner?”

Catra paused then took a swig of the bottle. It was still over halfway full. “Because... I felt like it never mattered. I always thought I couldn't have her. I never let myself even imagine that possibility. I thought if I couldn't have her then, I could be her closest friend.” She squeezed the bottle almost hard enough to break it. “But then... She left and made new best friends in less than a day and asked me to come with her. Like I was on the same level of people she just met! It just... It felt like I didn't mean that much to her. I wanted a level of my own to her and somewhere along the lines, I began to think... If I couldn't be her most loved... Then I could be her most hated.” She took another chug from the bottle.

“But you don't think like that now, right?”

Catra lightly tapped her claws across the glass. “No. I don't hate Glimmer and Bow. Not anymore. When I was on Horde Prime's ship, it made me realize that maybe I wouldn't be the most important in Adora's eyes, but that was still better than being nothing at all. Being absolutely alone... It's so much worse. I was so full of anger and hate and I don't want to feel like that anymore. So I sent Glimmer away to protect Adora and she _still_ came to get me. She kept _being_ there. Even then I never let myself consider the possibility she would want me. I had burned that bridge a long time ago.”

“But you confessed to her. So when did you think that she did want you?”

Catra's looked up at Scorpia with a blank stare. “Oh I never thought that. I am still trying to figure out why she didn't reject me. So far my best explanation is she got caught up in the moment.”

Entrapta looked away from her computer. “That doesn't make sense. Why would you confess if you were expecting to get rejected?”

Catra turned on her heel to look at Entrapta. “Because she was dying! She was so set on sacrificing herself and nothing I said mattered to her!” Tears formed in Catra's eyes. “I just... I couldn't watch. So I told her in hopes she would realize she does matter. She matters to me more than anyone. I didn't care if she rejected me. It was never about me wanting her to love me back. I never expected her to return those feelings and I still don't understand why. What have I ever done to deserve them?”

“What have I done to deserve a second chance? What has Hordak done to?” Entrapta turned back to her computer and typed slowly. “The princesses... They are all so kindhearted and I think you two are selling them a bit short.”

“I think Entrapta is right. Adora probably felt the same way with you. I'm sorry for trying to get between that. I am happy you two are together now.”

Catra wiped her tears away and turned back to Scorpia with a smile. “Right. And as the senior in dating in this room, I will help you with your relationship.”

“Senior in dating?” Scorpia narrowed her eyes. “Have you and Adora even been dating for 24 hours?”

“I'll have you know it's been 26 hours and,” she leaned over to glance at the clock on Entrapta's computer, “34 minutes, but emotionally roughly 15 years when I first met Adora. Not quite sure on that exact date. Probably a file of it somewhere around here. Did you know Adora came to the Fright Zone 20 years, 5 months, and 13 days ago?”

Scorpia stared at Catra for several long moments. “And you know that how?”

“Read it in a file. Shadow Weaver documented like everything.”

Scorpia continued to stare at Catra in suspicion. There were files everywhere in this room, but she had not seen Catra touch any of them while in this room with her. “And you read this file when?”

Catra waved off the question. “Not important.” She crossed her arms and raised a smug eyebrow at Scorpia. “And how many relationships have you been in?”

“Uh... None?”

“Exactly. That makes me your senior. I have gone on one date with her and we have already shared about 37 kisses. Or 42. It's hard to tell how to separate kisses when making out. Also counting in general. Anyways that still trumps your zero.”

“You've been keeping count?”

Catra smiled brightly. “Yes. I am enjoying this while I can until she inevitably dumps me.”

“The smile is really throwing me off while you are saying depressing things.”

Catra shrugged. “Now I might not be the person to go for _good_ relationship advice, but I can tell you what _not_ to do. _Don't_ destroy everything she loves and cares about until you're the only thing left, so she has to choose you by default.”

“I have to say. I didn't think that _would_ work and should go without saying.”

“Well somebody had to try it and I can ensure you that it will end with her punching you in the face.”

“Still not quite sure how you thought that _would_ work.”

Entrapta leaned her elbow on her keyboard and looked at them. “Why am I not being counted?”

Catra looked at her in surprise. “You've dated before?”

“You do realize I am 30, right? I have dated plenty and have done more than kissing.”

Catra put her bottle of wine down and rushed over with Scorpia to sit on the floor in front of Entrapta. “Tell us,” they said in unison.

Entrapta raised her eyebrows at them. “What do you want to know?”

“How many have you dated?” asked Scorpia at the same time as Catra asked, “How far have you gone?”

“Hordak is my third boyfriend and I've had sex if that is what you are insinuating.”

“With Hordak?” questioned Catra as she scrunched her face at the thought. “Does he even have anything down there? I mean he's a clone. Does Horde Prime go that in depth with his clones?”

Entrapta thought for a moment. “You know... I hadn't considered that. I will have to ask and update you.”

“Ew. No. Don't update me on that.”

“But you're the one who asked.”

Catra scowled. “I know I did, but if you haven't noticed, I don't tend to think through what I say. I don't want to know anything about what is under a man's clothing. I am remembering now why I usually skipped sex-ed.”

Entrapta pulled out her recorder with her hair and held it up to Catra. “Oh that's right. You only like girls. Tell me about what that is like.”

Catra pushed her hair away. “How about not?”

“But sex is designed for procreation and bonding. Yours wouldn't be able to procreate. What is that like?”

Catra blushed. “So what if we can't have a baby?”

“That's not completely true,” commented Scorpia. “I have two moms.”

Catra's eyes widened. “Two women can have a baby? Our sex-ed classes definitely said that was impossible.”

“Oh. I've heard of that,” said Entrapta. “The Eternal Amber runestone of Aegean is said to possess the power to gift two people in love with a child regardless of any biological barriers. I have been meaning to study it, but Aegean is tedious to travel to and Queen June Bug is very particular with who she allows to see her.”

“That's the one. My moms traveled there and had me. The Horde didn't tell people about that because it required a princess to use it and they told us we couldn't trust a princess. I was the only exception to that rule.”

Catra's blushed again. “So Adora and I _could_ have a baby.”

“You want to have a baby?”

Catra's blush deepened. “Well not right _now_. But... Maybe in the future. I wouldn't be against the idea if Adora isn't.”

Entrapta began to spin around her swivel chair. “I will have to ask Hordak about the genitals thing later, though. That would definitely effect our future relationship. If he doesn't, then maybe I can fashion a robotic one or clone one with his genetic code. I will have to study the clone chambers in Horde Prime's ship. They are probably use-”

Catra stopped Entrapta's spinning with her foot. “Let's get something clear right now. Imagine a list of things you are to never speak of in my presence and on that list, at the very top of it, is 'penises'. I will not repeat myself. This list goes into effect as of right now and we will never speak of it again. This conversation never happened.”  
  
“If this conversation never happened, does the list still-”

“Yes the list still applies!”

“Can I still interview you?”

“Interview Scorpia!”

Entrapta moved the recorder to Scorpia.

“Actually it doesn't bother me. Boys. Girls. It doesn't matter to me. I just like people for people,” said Scorpia. The boom box in the room changed to another song and as soon as the song began to play, Scorpia got up. “Sorry. Sorry. I'll change the song. I know you don't like that one.”

Catra crossed her arms. “It's fine. You like that song. I don't hate love songs anymore.”

Scorpia stopped. “If you say so.”

“Sing it.”

Scorpia looked perplexed to her. “But people hate it when I sing.”

“Who said that?”

“Uh. You did.”

Catra threw her hands up. “Well there's your first problem. Why would you listen to me?”

Scorpia looked even more confused. “Wouldn't this also count as listening to you?”

Catra ignored her reply and clapped her hands together. “Sing!”

“But I'm not very good at it.”

Catra huffed. “You don't sing because you are good at it. You sing to make people listen to you. So scream!”

“Why should I scream?”

“Because this is your castle now and you can scream if you want to. Scream because there is no Shadow Weaver or anyone else telling you not to. Scream because we are finally free to.” Catra jumped up and down on the balls of her feet and screamed. She then turned to Entrapta. “You scream, too!”

“You want me to scream? People usually tell me not to,” replied Entrapta.

“I bet you can scream really loud. Scream!” So Entrapta screamed. Catra covered her ears from the high pitch and burst into laughter. She then pointed at Scorpia. “Your turn!”

Scorpia yelled slightly louder than her normal talking voice.

“If you won't sing then I will,” laughed Catra.

She began to sing along with the song that was a sickeningly sweet song about a first love. Her voice easily hit the high notes and had a melodic tone that nearly outshone the original singer. She pointed at Entrapta who began to sing along with her. Entrapta was able to hit the pitches of the singer, but was consistently off beat. Despite that, she sounded like she was having fun. Soon Scorpia joined in. They danced together. Catra smoothly while Scorpia was stilted and Entrapta was trying to copy their movements, but not very well.

When the song finished, Bow began to clap, alerting them that they had an audience.

“How long have you been there?” screeched Catra.

“They have been there since Scorpia tried to ask you out,” supplied Entrapta.

“That was like 15 minutes ago! Why didn't you alert us?”

“Was I supposed to?”

“Yes! When people enter a room, you greet them and let others know they are there!”

“Oh. You didn't know they were there? Don't you have heightened senses?” Catra pointed at the bottle of wine she had put on the floor. “Oh. I guess that would dull your senses.” Entrapta turned to the door and waved. “Well they are here. Hi, Bow! Hi... other people!”

“Thanks, Bow,” commented Glimmer from still behind the door.

Bow pushed the door open slowly to reveal himself, Glimmer, Adora, and Perfuma. He awkwardly waved and said, “Sorry for snooping. We were just trying to find you guys. I had no idea you could sing, Catra.”

Scorpia froze when her eyes met Perfuma's and she turned as red as her claws. She had heard. Everything. She knew. Scorpia squeaked.

Catra's eyes darted around the room. Anywhere, but on Adora's. The only door in the room was currently blocked by them. She rapidly scanned for an escape route and jumped into the vent above her when she realized that was a viable option. It was how Entrapta traveled around the Fright Zone. It could work for Catra.

“Hey! That's not fair! I can't go that way!” shouted Scorpia as she jumped barely a foot off the ground, not even close to the vent opening.

It was unlikely she could fit in the vent even if she could jump up there. So she opted for barreling past them to exit out of the door. Perfuma gasped and hurried after her.

“Bye,” said Entrapta as she waved at the door as Scorpia and Perfuma left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Secrets are out! lol I know some people headcanon Entrapta as ace, but I do not. I headcanon a different character as ace. I also headcanon Scorpia as pan. If you headcanon her as a lesbian, that is cool, but she will be pan in my fic. :)
> 
> I don't plan swearing to be a common thing to happen. Do you think this fic should stay at a T or should I raise it to an M? I am not quite sure where to draw the line on that one.


	4. Burning Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that brings up The Legend of the Fire Princess. If you don't mind spoilers, I have written it so it can be understood regardless if you have read it. In this chapter, I write my first ever Scorfuma scene. I have never read Scorfuma fanfics before, but I may have to now because they are too cute. lol Enjoy. :)

**Chapter 4**

**Burning Past**

“Scorpia?”

Perfuma hovered uncertainly in the doorway of Scorpia's room. The room was pitch black. The lights were not turned on and there weren't any windows in it. There didn't seem to be a lot of windows in the Fright Zone in general and it was hard to believe so many people lived in such an environment. The only light in the room was coming from the hallway from the open door.

Scorpia sat huddled in the corner of her room on the floor. Her legs were pulled tight to her body and her face hidden in her knees. She was so still and quiet, it was almost like she had become a part of the room. It made Perfuma wonder the extent of what the Horde had done to her, to all of the operatives, to cause them to gain the skill of making themselves almost seem invisible.

Scorpia had not reacted to Perfuma calling her name. She hesitantly entered the room and wordlessly sat down across from her. She watched Scorpia and waited. Perfuma wasn't going to rush her if she wasn't ready to speak yet.

“Sorry,” mumbled Scorpia after several moments of silence.

Perfuma scooted closer to Scorpia by about an inch. “What are you apologizing for?” she asked quietly.

“Because I made things weird between us. I always do that. I make people uncomfortable. You probably hate me now.”

Perfuma gently placed her hand on Scorpia's bicep. “I don't hate you. You're one of the sweetest people I have ever met. How could I possibly hate you?”

Scorpia lifted her head from her knees. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were blotchy from crying. Tears were still slowly dripping from her eyes. “Do you mean that? Ah. You're such a nice person. I'm sorry. I feel like all I ever do is take advantage of people.”

Perfuma pulled a floral print handkerchief from her pocket and gently dabbed at Scorpia's cheeks. “You have such a kind soul, Scorpia. Even when you were chipped, you didn't let Prime change you. You don't have to keep apologizing. There is nothing wrong with you.”

Scorpia lowered her legs to sit cross-legged across from her, opening the protective shell she had wrapped herself in.

“What's that?” asked Perfuma when noticed something was laying on Scorpia's lap.

Scorpia picked up a small scorpion plush in her claws. It was worn and stained. Parts of it were torn with badly sewn, but clearly meticulous, stitching on them. “This is my birth doll made by one of my moms.”

It was tradition for parents to make a plush doll to celebrate the birth of a child. Perfuma had one of her own of a deer. It was usually made by the father while the mother was still pregnant, but not always.

“It's so cute.” She carefully ran her fingers over the fabric. She didn't want to damage something that clearly meant a lot to Scorpia. “Whatever happened to your mothers? After the Horde took over the Fright Zone, we heard very little about your family. I didn't even know Princess Gasha had you until only a few years ago.”

Scorpia moved the claws of the doll and stared intently at it as she spoke. “I don't completely know myself. I was 4 when they died. The Horde told me they were traitors and not to worry about them.”

Perfuma placed her hand on one of Scorpia's pincers. “That must have been hard growing up without your parents. I was 9 when my parents died.”

“You became the Queen of Plumeria when you were 9?” asked Scorpia in surprise. She knew Entrapta had become the Queen of Dryl at the age of nine as well and Frosta had become the Queen of Snows at the age of eight. She had no idea there were so many child rulers.

Perfuma shook her head. “Not quite. My older sister, Petalia, had become Queen. She raised me for a good portion of my life. I am grateful that I had her and that I wasn't alone during such a tough time.”

“I didn't know you had a sister.”

“Petalia passed away 6 years ago. She was so kind and headstrong. She protected our kingdom from the Horde and refused to back down from any injustices. She died for her cause. When I had become Queen in her place, I wanted to live peaceful in hopes the Horde would leave us alone. Each day they ventured further and further into the woods until they were on our doorstep. That's when Glimmer recruited me to the Alliance.” She played with her hair for a moments before looking back up at Scorpia. “Did you have anyone to help you growing up?”

There was something that flickered in Scorpia's eyes. It was only there for a second before all emotion was wiped from her features. “Not really. There were people assigned to raising me to make me into a Force Captain. They tended to keep me separate from the other cadets since I was a princess, so I didn't have many friends growing up.”

Perfuma tightened her grip on Scorpia's pincer. “Well you aren't alone anymore.” She glanced at the ground and blushed. “And just so you know... I also like girls.” She looked up at Scorpia's shocked face. “Especially you.” Perfuma cupped her hands together and made a bright red gardenia flower appear in her palms. The flower symbolized purity and gentleness, a perfect match for a kind heart like Scorpia. It also represented joy and secret love which conveyed how Perfuma felt about Scorpia. She carefully placed the flower in Scorpia's hair.

Scorpia's surprised face slowly turned into a small smile. Perfuma pulled her handkerchief back out and patted the remaining tears on her face. Scorpia moved one of her pincers to lay gently on Perfuma's back and pulled her closer. Perfuma smiled as she moved closer. She sat on one of her legs in her lap, her back against Scorpia's bicep, and her calves sprawled across the floor. Perfuma placed a hand on Scorpia's cheek. She leaned up as Scorpia leaned down until their lips were touching.

They stayed completely still together and simply kept their lips pressed to each other. Despite not physically moving, their minds were spinning and pleasant tingles were rushing through their bodies. Then they began to move. Perfuma's hand moved to the nape of Scorpia's neck and played with the soft short hairs there. Scorpia pulled her closer and let one of her pincers run through Perfuma's curls.

For once in a long time, everything was right.

~*~

“ _I sensed you were in distress.”_

Catra looked up to see Melog sitting in front her.

“Where have you been? I could have used you like a half hour ago.”

Melog tilted their head as their left ear twitched. _“You became distressed about ten minutes ago. You were happy before that.”_

Catra huffed. “I know that, but that's where the distress came from!” If they had been present, then they would have alerted her that she was being spied on.

Melog narrowed their eyes in confusion. _“You are acting odd. There seems to be a strange substance in your system.”_

“I'm aware of that! I'm the one that put it there!”

“ _I can remove that.”_

“Don't do that! I want it. That's the point.”

Despite her protests, Melog stepped closer to her and placed one of their paws on her right leg. They began to glow bright blue and Catra could feel her intoxication begin to fade. She hadn't been that intoxicated to begin with. It had been a nice buzz that had given her a bit more confidence to talk about how she truly felt and now that it was gone, she felt even more embarrassed by the things she had said. She missed that high and most definitely did not want to have to face her eavesdroppers again.

“Thanks,” she said with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“ _You're welcome.”_

Melog did not seem to comprehend sarcasm and continued to analyze her in confusion. Catra dropped her face into gap between her legs, her knees pressing into her forehead, and groaned.

“ _You still seem unwell. Was that not the source of your distress?”_

Catra lifted her face in surprise and went completely still when she heard the door of the storeroom she was in open and close. She heard light footsteps to her hiding place then a hand being placed on the low hanging ceiling from the staircase the storeroom was located under. Catra already knew who it was before they came into view. She knew those footsteps and that scent better than anything else in existence.

“There you are,” said Adora, her ponytail hanging to the side as she angled her body to see around the crates.

“How did you find me?” questioned Catra as she tightened her legs to her chest and squished herself more into the wedge she was sitting in beside one of the crates and the wall.

Melog jumped onto the crate beside Catra with a quiet thud and looked down at them as Adora moved to sit across from Catra. “But you always came here when you were upset. If you didn't want me to find you, why did you go to such an obvious place that I would?”

Catra glared at her, her eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. The room was not perfectly sealed shut. Light filtered from below the door into the room. The steps above them were not lined properly and light sneaked through the cracks between the boards. “This place was a perfectly fine hiding spot for like the last two years while you were gone. No one could ever find me here. Especially Scorpia. I don't think she could even fit this far into the room to see me. I forgot you knew about it.”

Adora kept her distance and looked over her from her spot a good two feet away. This version of Catra was one she knew better than the hateful version she had seen while they were on opposite sides of the war. It had been a long time since she had truly seen this side of Catra. The side Catra only let Adora and no one else see. Or at least that was how it had been. “You seem to have gotten pretty close to Scorpia while I was gone. I'm sorry for spying on you. You said some things that I wasn't supposed to hear, didn't you?”

Catra looked away and stared intently at the corner of one of the crates. She began to count the splinters on it for something else to focus on. Her gaze returned to Adora when she felt the tips of her feet tentatively press against Catra's toes.

“Hey. I am sorry for listening, but we do have to talk about this,” continued Adora gently.

Catra's ears flattened and her fur fluffed up. “I don't want to. Can't we just drop it and act like I didn't say anything?” Melog turned red in response to her aversion to the subject.

Adora scratched the back of her head and glanced around the room. “I'm sorry, but I can't. Look. I'm not very good with talking about emotions either. The Horde didn't exactly prepare us for that sort of thing. We were taught to bottle up our emotions and just do as we were told. But that's not healthy.” She looked back at Catra. “I want things to work with us. So let's from now on say how we feel instead of pretending it away. That's hasn't exactly worked well for either of us.”

Melog continued to glow red from Catra's irritation, making the entire room have a red glow to it. Catra tightened her fingers on her knees. Her claws slid out and pressed against the fabric of her pants, threatening to tear a hole and break her skin. “You want to talk about feelings? Fine. Why are you bothering with me? You're She-Ra. You could have anyone you want. Even before all of this, you were the star of the Horde yet you stayed with me. Why put yourself through that hassle?”

“Because I love you.” Catra scrunched her face up in annoyance at her short response, so Adora explained further. “When I left the Horde, I got to explore Etheria and meet so many people. But I still missed you. No matter who I met or where I went, I would still think of you. I would see a beautiful view and think about how I wanted to show you it or I would try some really good food and think about how I wanted you to try it. I found myself creating a mental list of all those things and hoping that there would be a day we would no longer be enemies. Then I could finally show you these things. It felt like a part of me was missing for so long.” She held a fist to her heart. “But now that you are back, I feel whole again. I don't want to go back to before.”

Melog returned to their usual blue glow as Catra stared at Adora wide eyed. Adora scooted slightly closer and placed the sides of her boots against the sides of Catra's, framing them. “I have done nothing to deserve you.”

Adora giggled. “That's not how love works. It makes me happy when I am with you. I wasn't caught up in the moment. I have always felt that way about you.” Adora took a chance and lightly placed one of her hands on top of Catra's. Her hand relaxed in her hold and released the fabric from her claws. “My feelings for you are real and they are not going to fade away. I know saying this won't just suddenly make you not worried. It's going to take a lot more than that and time to mend those wounds, but I want to try. You don't need to be scared that I am going to leave you or stop being in love with you. I want you to feel safe with me and to trust me.”

Catra's heart began to race from how close Adora was and the sweet things she was saying. These were things she dreamed of Adora saying to her, but never actually thought she would hear such words. She turned her hand to hold Adora's. “You're such an idiot.”

Adora smiled warmly at her. “I've heard that one before. What can I do to prove to you that I do love you?” Catra shrugged in response. Adora ran her thumb over the back of Catra's hand in thought. “How about I take you on a date tomorrow?”

Catra blushed at the memory of them dancing last night. “Didn't we just go on a date yesterday?”

“Yes. But that was for an event. This time I will plan something. I want to spend some time with you.”

A smile stretched over Catra's face and her heart began to race even faster. “Oh. And what will we do?” she asked in a sultry voice.

Adora did not seem to pick up on the mood change. “I don't know yet. I'll have to talk to Glimmer to see what we can do.”

Catra let go of Adora's hand and placed her hands on the floor. She slowly crawled up to Adora until she was breathing on her face. “I asked... what will we do?”

Her hands reached out and cupped Adora's face. Adora raised her eyebrows and she stared into her eyes. Then she was reaching for Catra and pulling her onto her lap. Their mouths crashed together. Catra's heart stuttered at the sudden contact. Adora's hands gripped the back of her shirt and held her tightly against her. Catra blushed at feeling of their breasts being pressed together. Her heart was beating so fast that it was now a steady thrum. Their mouths moved in sync with open mouth kisses.

Catra couldn't get enough of Adora's taste nor did she ever want to. Adora tasted a bit like the coffee she had drank that morning before they had left the cave and something else. Something so familiar, so Adora. Adora's tongue ran carefully over Catra's fangs and Catra pushed her tongue into Adora's mouth to run over her dull teeth in response. She was much more reckless in her movements, not caring if she nicked her tongue on one of Adora's teeth. Not when all her senses were currently being filled with Adora.

Catra's hands began to wander, curious as to how far Adora would allow her to go. She started with the backs of her ears then dropped to running her hands along the outline of her neck then her shoulders. The tips of her fingers moved around her shoulders to just below her collarbone. She rubbed her jacket there with each movement going lower. Upon no resistance, Catra opened her right hand to lay flat on one of Adora's breasts.

Adora broke away from the kiss and for a moment, Catra was scared she had crossed a line, but then she heard Adora's breathy moan. Catra's ears perked up and she decided she liked that sound. She slid her hand lower to cup Adora's breast through her jacket. Another moan escaped from Adora's mouth. Catra became fascinated with all the possible sounds she could draw out of Adora. She lightly squeezed Adora's breast and moved her mouth to her neck. Catra experimentally ran her tongue along her neck. Adora gasped and shifted to allow Catra to have more access. That was all the encouragement Catra needed to latch onto her skin and suck, her tongue lashing against her skin. Catra nipped and tasted her, leaving red marks along her skin.

“ _Are you going to mate?”_

Catra jolted away from Adora and looked up at Melog where they still sat on top of the crate. “I forgot you were up there,” said Catra as she tried to get back in control of her breathing.

“ _I had not left. I can leave now if that is what you desire.”_

Adora giggled and loosened her clutch on the back of Catra's shirt. Catra turned back to look at Adora's flushed cheeks and the sweat that now lined her brow. “I don't know what you two are talking about, but we should probably be getting back to the others.”

Catra pouted. She moved her legs to around her waist and her arms to around her shoulders to lock her into place. “Don't want to. I've cleaned enough.”

Adora drew circles on Catra's back and smiled. “Don't worry. We can continue later. I'll make sure we have the day off tomorrow. But right now, we have things we are supposed to be doing.”

_I'd rather do you_ , thought Catra, but she didn't dare voice this thought.

Adora placed her hand on Catra's right thigh. Her thumb ran along the inside of her thigh, causing her muscles to twitch, as it moved down her leg until she was reaching behind herself to grab Catra's ankle. She untangled her leg and moved it to her right side to lay with Catra's other leg. Adora grasped Catra's lower back and under her knees as she began to stand up, hugging Catra to her chest. Catra's heart began to speed back up and she fussed in Adora's arms.

“Hey! Put me down!” she whined as her cheeks heated up and she pushed a hand against Adora's face.

“Eh. Why not? I don't want to let go of you yet.” Adora tightened her grip on her and held her close.

“I can't let others see me like this! I already damaged my reputation enough earlier!”

Adora turned her face and pressed a kiss to the palm of Catra's hand that was pushing against her face. “Can I carry you to just the door then? No one will see and it will just be a moment between us.” She glanced over to where Melog still sat on the crate. “Well us and Melog, but they can't really tell anyone anyway.”

Catra huffed and crossed her arms. “Fine. Suit yourself. But just to the door.”

Adora beamed and kissed her on the forehead. She began to walk slowly toward the door at less than half of her usual walking speed. Catra snorted. “It's going to take an hour to get to the door at this rate,” she commented.

Adora scuffed. “I don't know what you are talking about. I always walk like this.”

Catra's dangling tail swayed and twitched against Adora's thighs. “Liar. You are enjoying carrying me like this way too much.”

Adora stopped and stared into Catra's eyes. Her pupils had dilated so much that the blue of her eyes were barely an outline. Catra was unsure if she was the cause of that or if it was because of the dimly lit room. “I missed being able to hold you. Even before I defected from the Horde, you had stopped letting me.”

Catra began to play with the collar of Adora's jacket. “Because it hurt,” she whispered in confession.

Adora narrowed her eyebrows, the look of confusion clear on her face. “Why did it hurt?”

“Because I couldn't have you. Or at least I thought I couldn't. So it hurt when you held me knowing that you didn't feel the same. Didn't it bother you?”

Adora shook her head. “No. I wanted whatever you were willing to give me. I was content with staying by your side and in your life.” Adora began to walk toward the door again. “I am happy that I can be in your life again. I don't want that to change.”

They finally made it to the door and Adora reluctantly set Catra down. Catra slipped her hand into Adora's and squeezed. “I still am not a fan of this whole talking about our feelings thing, but I will try it more. I don't really know what I am doing, but I don't want to go back to how things were before. I like now. The Horde did so many bad things to us like abuse, propaganda, manipulation, and neglect. Night Child was the melting pot of all those things. It's amazing that they turned out okay in the end.”

Catra tried to take a step forward only for Adora to not budge. She looked up to Adora's shocked face. “Wait. Night Child was real? I thought they were just a rumor to keep us from sneaking around at night.”

Catra raised an eyebrow. “Adora... Night Child is Scorpia.”

The color drained from Adora's skin. “But those noises... And what they did.” She sucked in a quick breath of air. “They were all real?”

“They were definitely real. I met Night Child back when we were kids. When I met Scorpia again when she was a Force Captain, I thought it was her, but then she was so cheerful and smiley that I thought I was mistaken. Scorpia doesn't ever talk about it, but I ran into her file before. It was... graphic.”

“I'm... I'm going to have to tell Glimmer about that. She should know. It might affect with the sentence she gave everyone.”

They walked hand in hand down the hall to a large room that looked to have once been a part of the original castle. There were chipped murals all over the walls and many broken statues that were no longer clear on what they once were. Glimmer and Bow were sweeping in the corner. Entrapta was sitting on the floor and inspecting different small objects scattered about. Perfuma was hugging Scorpia's arm as they whispered to each other.

Catra smiled when she saw Perfuma press a chaste kiss to Scorpia's cheek. “Told you,” commented Catra.

Scorpia's cheeks slightly reddened and a small smile appeared on her lips. “You did,” she agreed.

“Good. I'm glad,” she replied with earnest. She snickered as she turned back to Adora and clang to her arm as they walked to where Glimmer and Bow were.

Scorpia looked up at one of the statues. It was of a hulking figure of a woman with scorpion features and long curly hair. It was covered in scratches and parts of it broken off. The painting on it was worn and barely visible, but it seemed the statue's hair was once a shade of bright red, golden eyes, and was wearing a long white gown. “There are so pictures and statues of people in this room and I have no idea who any of them are. Like this woman. No idea who she is, but she always kinda scared me as a kid.”

Perfuma giggled. “Scorpia, that's the Goddess, Sepsa,” she replied.

Scorpia looked at her in confusion. “Who?”

Perfuma gave her a gentle smile. “She's your Goddess, Scorpia.”

Scorpia turned back to the statue in awe. “My Goddess? I didn't even know I had one. What is she supposed to do?”

“Sepsa is the fourth daughter and the guardian of lightning and the eighth moon.”

“Fourth daughter? Eighth moon? Sorry. You must think I'm dumb.”

Perfuma shook her head. “It's okay, Scorpia. The Horde deprived you of so many teachings. I'll explain whatever you need me to. All the princesses have a Goddess and they are said to watch over us from one of the moons. Sepsa is the fourth oldest of the ten sisters who created Etheria. She is said to have given your ancestors the Black Garnet to gain access to some of her powers to protect the Fright Zone and the people who lived there.”

“That's amazing. A protector, huh? Do you have one?”

“Yes. My Goddess is Aromia. She is the fifth daughter and guardian of plants and the sixth moon. She gave my ancestors our runestone, the Heart Blossom.”

“Did all the Goddesses give runestones?”

“Yes. That's why we are princesses. We are the only ones that can access their powers.”

Scorpia turned to Entrapta who inspecting a glass shard she held in her hair. “If a runestone is what makes someone a princess, then what about you? Do you have a Goddess?”

Entrapta placed the shard down and picked up a small blue scratched up piece of plastic to inspect as well. “I don't have a Goddess. But I did have a runestone and that's why we count,” she replied.

“You had a runestone? I have never heard of that. I never knew why Dryl was considered a kingdom,” responded Perfuma.

“Oh I didn't know either until I began to research the Spirit Ember and discovered it was an artificial runestone made by the First Ones. They were researching the magic of Etheria and were trying to replicate the runestones. They gave a medusan a runestone in hope that their inherent magic within them that controlled their hair would allow them to channel the magic from the stone just like a princess. Only it was a failure and the medusan princess went berserk from the magic. She destroyed her kingdom and her younger brother evacuated everyone to Snare Mountains which would later become Dryl.”

Bow stopped sweeping and walked over to them as Glimmer and Adora continued to whisper to each other. “Wait. Are you talking about that time we traveled to the Candila Mountains back when you were still part of the Horde? The Spirit Ember we found there had been your runestone? Why didn't you say anything?” he questioned.

Entrapta stared at him blankly for a few moments. “Because you didn't ask. But yes to all of that. It's why I am technically a princess, but I don't follow the usual princess rules of having a Goddess and a runestone. Unless you want to count the First Ones as my Goddess, which actually is a rather fascinating concept now that I consider it.”

“Wait. Back up. What is _Night Child_?” requested Glimmer to Adora loudly, her voice echoing off the walls, interrupting Bow's conversation with Entrapta, Scorpia, and Perfuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my original draft of this chapter ended up becoming way longer than I expected and this chapter took longer than necessary because of it. I decided to cut the chapter in half and post the rest later. It's already halfway written, so will probably be done soon. So stay tuned to find out more about Night Child. :)
> 
> Name Pronunciations  
> Princess Gasha (One of Scorpia's mothers) is gash-uh  
> Princess Petalia (Perfuma's older sister) is pet-all-lee-uh  
> Goddess Sepsa (Scorpia's Goddess) is sep-suh  
> Goddess Aromia (Perfuma's Goddess) is uh-roh-mee-uh


	5. Night Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took a little longer than I originally planned. I was way too on edge with this election to focus on anything. Originally this and the last chapter were going to be one, but they expanded larger than expected. You may have noticed the rating change. I decided to do it for this chapter. Darker things are to come, but this is the tip of it. I hurt the babies. I'm sorry.
> 
> Trigger warning: Mention of past child abuse

**Chapter 5**

**Night Child**

“Scorpia? What's wrong?” asked Perfuma when she felt Scorpia suddenly go stiff in her arms.

Perfuma leaned away from Scorpia to see that her face had become as pale as her snow white hair. Then suddenly she was turning around to face Glimmer, Adora, and Catra standing at the other side of the room, almost knocking over Perfuma in the process. She didn't even seem to register how fast she had moved or Perfuma trying to regain her balance.

“You know about Night Child?” she shouted. Her voice was tinged with fear and anxiety.

“Like I was saying, Night Child is Scorpia,” clarified Catra to Glimmer.

“You knew about that?” Despite her question coming out as a whisper, the sound bounced off the walls and carried over to where they stood.

“What? It wasn't covered in Force Captain Orientation? It seems like everything else was.”

“Well... Not exactly.”

“Can we back up a moment? I still have no idea what Night Child even is,” interjected Glimmer.

“Back when we were kids, there were rumors that there was a prison underneath the Fright Zone that held an extremely dangerous and vicious child who was a princess. That she was barely human and that she could not be reasoned with. And at night, she was taken out by specially trained operatives to train separately from us as a secret weapon to take out the rest of the princesses. Sometimes... At night... We could hear her... _Screaming_ ,” said Adora. She turned to Scorpia with watery eyes. “I thought she was just a rumor to keep us from sneaking around the cellar and at night. I had no idea she was you.”

“She was definitely real. I met Scorpia before when she was Night Child, but I was never able to get a good look at her. Used to push ration bars through the vents to her when I was a kid,” replied Catra.

“Wait. _You_ were Vent Kid?” asked Scorpia.

“Yep. That was me, but I didn't know you gave me such a stupid nickname.”

Perfuma lightly placed her hand back on Scorpia's bicep. “What did she mean by 'screaming'? What were they doing to you?” she requested. Tears were already beginning to leak out of her eyes at the thought that they had been harming Scorpia.

Scorpia shook her head. “It's fine. It was my fault anyways.”

Perfuma tightened her grip on Scorpia. “You were a child. How could it possibly have been your fault?”

“You should just tell her. There is no sense in hiding it. The Horde did a lot of awful things to us, but the things they did to you were way worse than me. Not telling them about it is like saying what they did was okay. It wasn't,” said Catra.

Scorpia ducked her head and stared intently at her boots. “They kept me separate from everyone else because I was a princess. They were trying to connect me to my runestone, but it was rejecting me. They tried so many times and... it hurt when they did. Like getting hit by one of our taser guns. Only like over and over again... For days.”

Tears began to drip out of Perfuma's eyes in big globs. “That's awful. I am so sorry you had to go through that,” she cried. She wrapped her arms around Scorpia's torso and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Scorpia shrugged and frowned as she continued to look at her boots. “I'm okay. They gave up on me after awhile and then I was sent away to a different camp to be trained to be a Force Captain instead.”

“But why was the runestone rejecting you in the first place?” asked Adora.

“Lapis Amissio. It's a princess affliction. It's tradition on a princess's seventh birthday to connect to their runestone, but sometimes the runestone rejects them. It hurts, but it's not a huge deal when it happens. Usually they just wait a few more years then try again. It's something princesses grow out of and only affects about ten percent of princesses,” explained Glimmer. “It happened to me when I tried to connect to my runestone and my mom made me wait all the way until I was fourteen to try again. I connected to it with no issue the second attempt.”

Scorpia placed one of her pincers on top of Perfuma's head and lightly patted it as she continued to cry into her shoulder. “I'm sorry for upsetting you, Perfuma. I wanted to avoid talking about this because I don't like thinking about it.”

Perfuma leaned away and wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands. “No. I'm sorry for making you talk about something that made you uncomfortable,” she apologized. “How about we focus on something else? We can go get something to eat.”

Scorpia smiled. “That sounds good. I am starving.”

Once Perfuma and Scorpia exited the room, Glimmer turned to Catra and said, “You mentioned there was a file. Can you show me it?”

Catra nodded and began to lead her, Adora, and Bow out of the room.

“That's okay, guys. You go do that. I'm going to go check up on how things are going with Hordak,” called out Entrapta as they left the room.

~*~

“This was Shadow Weaver's office,” said Adora.

“This was the Second in Command's office which was, oh yeah, _me_ ,” replied Catra as she unlocked the office door. Inside was a small room with a large dark wood desk and a padded black swivel chair that took up about half of the room. The room was full of file cabinets that were tipped over and the files were all over the floor. “I had to do a lot of busy work in here. It was _so_ boring.”

“I find it hard to believe that you actually did paperwork.” Adora picked up a random paper that was laying on the desk and began to read it until she realized it was just covered in curse words. “Okay. Yeah. That makes sense.”

Catra grabbed the paper from her. “That is an important document.”

“Of what? What is the best font to write 'fuck you' in?”

“Language,” scolded Bow.

Glimmer glanced at all the files scattered everywhere. “Any chance you know where Scorpia's file is at in all of this?” she inquired.

“My organization is kinda everywhere,” said Catra as she gestured around the room.

“Great,” sighed Glimmer. “Let's just get started then.”

They began to pick up the files and read the names on each one as they created their own stack. There were so many names Glimmer didn't recognize and she began to realize that she would have to go through all of them to better understand the extent of the Horde's damage on every operative. Glimmer blinked in surprise when saw a name she did recognize on one of the files.

“Hey! I found Catra's file!” exclaimed Glimmer as she began to open it then stopped when she read the full name on it.

“Wait! Wait! No!” shouted Catra as she yanked the file out of Glimmer's hands and held it protectively to her chest. “You saw, didn't you?!”

“I saw.”

“Forget it!”

Glimmer snorted and started letting out breathy laughter. She doubled over as she tried to contain her laughter. “I don't think I could _ever_ forget that.”

“I can fix that!”

Catra tried to pounce on top of Glimmer, but she teleported away to beside Bow. “So. Bow,” said Glimmer as she cockily popped her lips on his name. “Want to know what Catra's full name is?”

Catra screamed and tried to pounce on them again only for Glimmer to teleport herself and Bow to the other side of the room. “Somehow I feel like my life is in danger if I know,” he replied as he glanced nervously over to where Catra was.

Glimmer ignored his answer. “Catra Applesauce Meowmeow.”

Bow began to howl with laughter. “That's so cute!”

“I am not cute!” shrieked Catra as all her fur puffed up then turned on her heel when she heard Adora trying to stifle her giggle behind her hand. “Not you, too! This is your fault!”

“Did you know about this, Adora?” asked Glimmer between laughs.

“Yes she did! She is the one who wrote it!”

“You told me I could write whatever I wanted,” defended Adora. “You should have never given me that power. Besides, I was 6 and at the time, I thought it was cute. I still do.”

“How did this even happen?” asked Bow as he continued to snicker behind his hand.

“Well Catra and I are orphans. So when we started school, we were given papers to give ourselves middle and last names. Catra said it was dumb and that I could fill out hers. That's what the access code to open the doors is. Our initials converted into numbers. CAM-N-AHR-4-Ever. A lot of Horde codes use initials to numbers format.”

“I thought you never had real food until you met us. How did you know what applesauce was?”

“I never had it, but I had heard of it from people who did go outside of the Fright Zone. They told me it was the most amazing thing they ever had and I had always wanted to try it.”

“So, wait. You named Catra after something you always wanted to _taste_?” laughed Glimmer. “So tell me again when you figured out you were a lesbian?”

Adora blushed and narrowed her eyes. “Okay. I am going to stop you right there,” she said pointedly.

“How have I never heard of this? She was our enemy and you never thought to tell me what her embarrassing full name was?”

“If that is what you wrote for Catra, then what did you write for yourself?” inquired Bow.

“Something equally dumb,” commented Catra.

“It's not dumb. I think it's cool. My full name is Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist,” replied Adora. “And the name I gave you is adorable.”

“I had to skip Force Captain Orientation because they would have said my full name when commissioning me! I don't know how I still managed to fall in love with you when gave me this name!”

Glimmer smacked her face with her palm and said, “How is letting 6-year-olds name themselves one of the worst things the Horde has let happen?”

“Uh... Glimmer. You might want to take that one back. I just found Scorpia's file,” said Bow as he picked up the file by his foot.

Glimmer, Adora, and Catra stopped and walked over to where Bow was as he opened the file. Glimmer took out the first page and began to read it over as Bow flipped through the document. He pulled out a picture he found and stared at it. The picture was of Scorpia when she looked to be about eight years old. She was wearing plain tattered black clothing with the Horde logo on them. Her straight white hair went all the way to her waist. It was untamed and didn't look to have been brushed in a long time. It laid in a heap on her head without any sense of a part. Between the strands of hair, he could see her black eyes staring blankly back at him. There wasn't a trace of any emotion in her eyes or on her face, an expression of absolutely nothing. A chill ran through Bow like someone had dumped ice water into his veins.

Glimmer gasped when Bow handed her the picture. She took it with shaking hands. “Are those _zip ties_?” Upon closer inspection, there were zip ties holding her pincers closed. “I know the Horde has done a lot of awful things, but this... This is a whole other level.”

“I almost don't want to ask, but... Was Hordak the one doing this to her? If it was, we might need to make his punishment harsher,” said Bow.

“It wasn't Hordak,” said Scorpia. They turned to see Scorpia and Perfuma were now standing in the doorway. Scorpia nodded at Perfuma. “You can look at the file if you want to. It's fine.”

“If not Hordak, then who?” asked Glimmer.

“Hordak didn't do much of anything. I hardly ever even saw him. Before Shadow Weaver, his Second in Command was a man by the name of Vultak. He was the one who was put in charge of training me. He... wasn't a very nice person. He was the one who made sure I became as strong as I am now. Shadow Weaver was the one who tried to connect me to my runestone.”

Tears dripped down Perfuma's cheeks as she cradled the photo of a young Scorpia. “We were all so focused on what the Horde has done to us that we didn't think much about what the Horde did to their own. This... This isn't a thing that should have ever happened. So many children never even got to have a childhood,” said Perfuma.

“I'm not sure when exactly they gave up trying to connect me to my runestone, but I was about 12 when Vultak died. That was when Shadow Weaver officially took his place and I was instead placed in the care of Vultak's sister, Hunga, at a different camp. She was a lot nicer compared to him. She didn't keep me separated from the other cadets.”

“I'm sorry that I made you connect to your runestone, Scorpia. I had no idea how traumatic of a connection you had with it,” apologized Glimmer.

Scorpia shrugged. “It's okay. I ended up connecting to it without any problem, so I guess I grew out of that Amissy or whatever. I knew I had to try again at some point. A princess is supposed to be connected to it. You gave me my needed push. Thank you.”

“What's it like to be connected to it? Do you feel any different?” asked Catra.

“Like a part of me is finally full. Like a buzzing inside of my heart. It makes me feel more alive. Like it was always meant to be there. Sorry if that's not the best explanation.”

“I know what you mean by feeling more alive, Scorpia. I can feel more in tuned with the planet when I am connected to my runestone,” replied Perfuma.

“And me with my sparkles. Like a rushing and pulling feeling of being able to freely move through this dimension,” added Glimmer.

Perfuma pressed a kiss to Scorpia's cheek. “I'm sorry we couldn't be in your life sooner, but we are here now and are not going anywhere.”

“Aw, come here!” said Scorpia as she pulled them all into a group hug and easily lifted the five people off the ground. They laughed as she set them all down.

“Good news, Catra! Hordak _does_ have a penis!” announced Entrapta as she came into the room.

Catra stared at Entrapta blankly before she turned to Scorpia and asked, “If you shock me like really hard right now, do you think you can give me partial amnesia so I can _never_ recall this part in my life again?”

“What?! I'm not going to shock you!” exclaimed Scorpia.

“Why not? Real friends knock each other out! Adora would!”

“Uh... That was the alternate universe reality and I only tased you because you were being annoying,” defended Adora.

“I was not!”

“Was too!”

“Is there another reason you came in here, Entrapta?” requested Glimmer while ignoring the argument happening between Catra and Adora.

“Oh right. I am transporting my lab back to Dryl and needed some assistance,” said Entrapta.

“Bow and I will help.” Glimmer pulled on Adora's jacket, separating her from her argument with Catra. “This one will as well.”

“Wait. What about Catra?” asked Adora as Glimmer dragged her out of the room.

“Scorpia and Perfuma can watch her. Will do you some good to be apart for a bit.”

Catra childishly stuck her tongue out at Adora which caused Adora to retort with the same.

~*~

Catra sighed in boredom as she swept the floor. Back when Adora and her had been cadets, they used to have to help clean the Fright Zone together all the time. Catra usually left most of the cleaning up to Adora, but Adora never seemed to mind it much. After she had left, Catra had become Force Captain and no longer had to do such menial tasks. She was so bored out of her mind that she was sweeping the same cleared spot over and over again.

“Kitty!” called out Adora in excitement.

Adora hadn't called her that since they were children. Catra dropped her broom and began to turn toward her. She yelped in surprise when Adora clung to her.

“What's going on?” asked Catra in surprise.

“There you are, Adora! I should have known you were going to Catra. Hey, Bow, she's in here!” yelled Glimmer as she entered the room.

“Meow meow meow meow,” giggled Adora as she nuzzled her cheek.

“Should I be worried about this?” inquired Catra as she pointed at Adora who was giggling euphorically.

“We were moving some boxes that contained First One's tech and this bottle broke. When Adora smelled it, she got infected and ran off,” explained Glimmer.

“Infected? I seem to remember her trying to kill me when she was infected, not acting weirder than usual.”

“That's only when she is She-Ra. When she's Adora, she gets really weird.”

“You're so _fluffy_ ,” said Adora as she began to pet Catra's hair. “You used to be fluffier...” She sniffed back some tears. “But Horde Prime stole your _fluffy_!” she wailed and fell to the floor dramatically.

“Uhhhh...” Catra knelt down and awkwardly put her hand on Adora's head. She looked at Glimmer for help. “What do I do?”

“You're the girlfriend. You got this. Let me go find Bow and Entrapta so we can figure out how to reverse this,” replied Glimmer before teleporting away.

“Wait! ...And she's gone. Now what?”

Adora ran her fingers along Catra's neck and began to scratch under her chin which caused Catra to begin involuntarily purring. She blushed and grabbed her hand in annoyance. Adora stared into her eyes with a dazed expression. “You're so pretty,” complimented Adora. She wiggled her fingers in Catra's hold that didn't budge. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Yeah?” Catra's answer came out more like a question as she raised an eyebrow at her.

Adora narrowed her eyes and leaned closer. “Is she prettier than me?”

A surprised laugh escaped from Catra's lips. “She _is_ you, idiot.”

“No way. I think I would remember that.”

“Apparently not.”

Adora tried to free her hand again to no avail. “Why can't I pet you? You used to let me make you purr when we were kids.”

Catra blushed. “That was different.”

Adora tilted her head in wonder. “How?”

_Because it's embarrassing now_ , thought Catra. Back when they were kids, she didn't mind it when Adora had done that, but now that they were older, it held more meaning. Letting her touch her and hear her purr was now a very intimate action. She wanted Adora to do that, but at the same time, there was still a part in her that made her feel like it was a sign of weakness and that she didn't deserve Adora's attention. Instead of voicing any of that, she let go of Adora's hand. “Go ahead.”

Adora tentatively ran her fingers along her chin toward one of her ears. They both twitched at Adora's touch, but Catra stayed still to allow her to explore. Adora made her way to her ear and gently scratched behind it. Catra was reacting to it before her mind realized it. Her back arched and a loud purr bubbled out of her. She blushed hard and grabbed at the front of Adora's jacket, pulling her toward her. Adora crawled onto Catra's lap, reversing their position from earlier. Their lips locked together as Adora continued to shower attention to her ear, making her tail twitch from the overdrive of emotions it was causing her to feel. Their tongues fought for dominance, a fight Catra was quickly losing because she couldn't focus.

“Seriously? Do you two just immediately make-out as soon as you are alone?” asked Glimmer as she came back into the room with Bow and Entrapta in tow.

Adora pulled away and placed her hands on Catra's shoulders, but remained on her lap. “Yeah. Pretty much,” answered Catra.

Adora narrowed her eyes at the intruders. “I'm not into threesomes,” she commented then raised a shaking hand to try and count all the people in the room. “Or foursomes? Or fivesomes? Or sixsomes? Quit moving. It's throwing me off.”

“Hmmm...” hummed Entrapta as she knelt in front of Adora. She held a small flashlight in her hair and shined it into Adora's eyes.

“You want to fight, you light?” Adora tried to swat at the flashlight, but completely missed. “I can make light, too!” She raised her hand up into the air. “For the honesty of Grayskull!” Adora stared at her hand when nothing happened. “Wait. That's not right... For the hungry of Grayskull? No. That's not it either. It's a 'hon'. I know it.”

“What exactly was in that bottle? Is she going to be like this forever?” inquired Catra.

Entrapta rubbed her chin with her hair in thought. “It was a bottle I was experimenting with by fermenting some of the shards of that chip that infected She-Ra. Apparently it's effects caused some sort of intoxication. Before when she was infected, the effect was canceled by breaking the chip, but the chip is already broken in this form.”

“So she is stuck like this?!”

“Well it _could_ wear off, but I should run some more tests.” Entrapta pulled out some medical instruments with her hair and held them up.

Catra pulled Adora to her chest and cradled her head as she glared at Entrapta. Adora was still mumbling as she tried to remember what the words she used to transform were. “How about no?”

“I know! It's for the _honkers_ of Grayskull!” shouted Adora. She burst out laughing and fell out of Catra's embrace. She continued to laugh as she laid on her back. “...Geese. Geese are honkers. There are birds called boobies.” Adora rolled onto stomach in her laughter, kicking Catra in the process. “Do they honk, too?”

“Okay. She's broken. How do we fix her?”

“ _I could be of service_ ,” said Melog as they entered the room.

“You can heal her like you did with me?” asked Catra.

“ _Precisely_.”

“Well it's worth a try.”

Melog placed their paw on Adora and began to glow bright blue. Entrapta pulled out a microscope and held it up to their glowing fur.

“Fassscinating,” commented Entrapta.

After the glowing concluded, Adora slowly raised her head up from the floor. “Why am I on the ground?” she asked.

Bow walked over and offered her a hand to help her up. “Glad to see you back,” he said.

“Was I gone? Wait. When did I come into this room?”

“I will have to do more studies on that chemical,” said Entrapta as she began to write quick notes in a notebook.

“Is anyone going to explain to me what happened?”

~*~

Catra sat on her too soft of bed as she toweled down her wet hair. She was exhausted from the long day of moving their camp to Bright Moon then going straight to the Fright Zone to clean. Despite this, she was sure she wouldn't be able to get a wink of sleep in this large unfamiliar room. The rushing of the unnecessary fountain in her room sounded way too loud in the otherwise silence of the room.

She was glad she had grabbed some of the soap from the supply closet in the Fright Zone before leaving. She was still quite unsure where the showers in this place even were and the fountain made a good makeshift bath by soaking a rag in the clear water that filled it. There had to be some sort of magic in it to make the water look that pure. It had been much too long since she was able to properly bathe.

“ _Why are there so many pillows on here? Do you not only have one head?_ ” asked Melog as they rolled on her bed.

“This is a castle. Everything here is so unnecessarily extravagant. I don't know how Adora got used to it,” replied Catra as she shook out her damp locks. She looked up in surprise when there was a knock on her door. “Come in.”

Adora's head peaked into the room before completely opening the door and walking around. “So this is your room. It's very nice.”

Catra played with a strand of her still damp hair. “It doesn't really feel like my room.”

“I know what you mean. It took a long time for my room to feel like mine. It's so much different from the Fright Zone. All pink and purple and spacious.”

“Is it bad that I miss the hard beds?”

“Not at all. I don't like soft beds either.”

“Or that I think this fountain is dumb?”

“I don't care for it either.”

“What even is the point of it? I used it to bathe.”

“The fountain is not for bathing, though I am still not clear on what it is for then. I do the same with it.”

They looked at each other for a moment before laughing together. Adora walked up to Catra and stood before her. She reached for her then retracted her hand before touching her.

“You know, Catra,” she continued, “My bed isn't soft. I had it switched out for a firm mattress like the ones in the Horde.”

Catra studied Adora's determined expression for several long moments before asking, “Are you offering me your bed, Adora?”

Adora's expression softened and became rather vulnerable looking. “Yes. If you want to that is.”

“Is that okay? Will we get in trouble?”

“I don't care. I have been away from you for way too long. I don't want to be separated from you even if it is just sleeping in different rooms.” Adora reached her hand out to Catra. “Please?”

“Okay.” Catra grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull her to her feet.

“ _You can sleep in her bed if you want, but I am staying here. It is comfy and more bed for me_ ,” said Melog.

“Suit yourself,” replied Catra with a laugh.

Adora and Catra walked down the hall hand in hand. There was a giddy fluttering feeling in Catra's stomach at the thought of being able to share a bed with Adora again, something she thought she would never have the pleasure of doing again after everything that happened. Catra knew which one was Adora's room before she stopped in front of it, her scent still clinging to it. It was a scent that always comforted Catra. It smelled of light and fresh air.

Catra looked around her room once inside. It looked like any of the other guest rooms, but then Catra began to notice small things about it. There was a shelf with a little figurine of She-Ra and a plush of Swift Wind on it. She-Ra's sword lay in broken pieces on top of a vanity. But most of all, drawings upon drawings were tacked up on the walls. Most of them were of landscapes and the sky. Some of them were of Glimmer and Bow and of the other princesses. Then she began to notice drawings of herself. Most of them were of when Catra was a child, but some of them were of her self when she was Force Captain.

Adora placed her hands on Catra's shoulders and placed her chin one of her shoulders from behind. “Glimmer was determined to find me a stress relieving outlet that wasn't violent. We tried a lot of things, but drawing was really the only one that worked,” she said.

“We used to doodle all the time as kids. You've gotten way better.”

“Practice and a lot of stress will do that.”

Catra glanced around at all the pictures, beginning to count how many were of her. She quickly realized there was nearly double the drawings of her compared to anyone else. “You drew me a lot.”

“I missed you. This... it was a way of coping with it.”

Catra pointed at the image that kept reoccurring of herself that had her staring agape with her hair blowing in the wind, surrounded by smoke. “That one appears a lot.”

Adora's grip on Catra's shoulders tightened for a moment. “That was how you looked at me when you first saw that I was She-Ra. I can still vividly remember that.” Adora glanced at all the pictures of Catra. “I will have to add some of your new haircut.” Adora's right hand ran down Catra's arm to her hand. “We should be getting to bed. It's late.”

Adora lightly pulled Catra to the bed. They stopped before it. Adora kicked off her boots then took off her jacket that she hooked to a rack beside her bed and took out her ponytail. She stripped off her shirt and pants, leaving herself in a sports bra and boyshorts. Catra stared in awe, unable to look away. Adora crawled onto the bed and went under the covers.

“Aren't you coming, too?” asked Adora with a raised eyebrow at her.

Catra looked down at her fully clothed body. She took a steadying breath before stripping down to her own sports bra and boyshorts. She awkwardly sat at the foot of the bed. This used to be her spot back in the Horde.

“Aren't you cold? Come up here, silly,” said Adora as she lifted her blanket to allow Catra entrance.

Adora wrapped her in the blanket as Catra crept under the covers with her. Adora ran her fingers along Catra's cheekbones, petting the soft fur there.

“We used to share a bed all the time back in the Horde,” said Adora.

“That was different and you know it.”

Adora ran her hands through Catra's short locks. “I know, but I want to be that close to you again... Or even closer that is.”

“I want that, too,” whispered Catra before drawing her into a kiss.

Their lips pressed together gently before quickly heating up when Catra pushed her tongue inside Adora's mouth. Adora's arms came around Catra's waist and held her close. Catra quickly got lost in the feeling. A tingling feeling that pricked at her skin and made her fur stand on end. No one was going to interrupt them now and they had nowhere they needed to be.

Catra ran her hands over Adora's shoulders and plucked at her bra straps. Adora moaned at the action and it fueled Catra to become bolder. She nipped at Adora's lips when they separated for air. Catra was much too impatient and pulled Adora back into the kiss after a few moments. Kissing Adora was much more important than air.

Catra was vaguely aware of herself pushing Adora onto her back and climbing on top of her. She framed her face as their kisses became more tongue than anything else. Catra's legs tangled with Adora's and restlessly changed positions. Adora scratched behind Catra's ears and her purr began to mix with the wet sound of them kissing.

Catra broke from the kiss to moan and just like that, the spell was broken and she was suddenly all too aware of what she was doing. Her legs had wrapped around one Adora's thighs and had been grinding against it. She could feel how wet the kissing had made her and there was no way Adora couldn't feel it with the way they were pressed together. A cold shiver of embarrassment ran down her spine and she couldn't bare to look at Adora's face.

Catra jolted away from her and moved to the edge of the room, tripping over something in the process which was quite possibly her own tail. She wanted to leave the room, but she was still in a state of undress. All her thoughts were mixed up and she wasn't even completely sure why she wanted to run.

“Catra? What's wrong? Why did you go?” asked Adora as she got out of the bed and over to where Catra was.

She had wrapped herself into a protective ball, all fur on end, and hiding her face in her knees. “Sorry. I shouldn't take advantage of you like that,” she mumbled.

“What are you talking about? Did it seem like I wasn't enjoying that?”

Catra shrugged, not any other body part moving. Adora reached out to her, her hand hovering above her arm, but not touching. She clenched her hand and brought it back.

“Catra. I love you,” she announced. One of Catra's ears twitched, but the rest of her stayed unresponsive, so she repeated herself, “I love you.”

“Heard you the first time,” mumbled Catra.

“I love you.”

“How many times do you plan to say that?”

“As many as you need to hear until you believe me.” Adora moved closer. “I love you. I love you. I love your voice. I love your smile. I love your eyes. I love how smart you are. I love your wit. I love your jokes. I love your laugh. I love your purr. I love your soft fur. I love the way you look at the world and how you don't pretend to like things that you don't. I love everything that makes you Catra.”

“But what if I can't fit?” She didn't continue her question, but Adora knew what she meant. The Horde life was all they had ever known and it was so scary to be outside of it. They were taught to fear the unknown and destroy what they feared.

“What are you talking about? You fit perfectly in my arms.”

Catra gave a short surprised laugh before finally looking up at Adora. “That was cheesy. Even for you.”

Adora gently smiled at her. “But it's true. We can get through anything together. It's going to take some time to get used to this, but I will be by you every step of the way.” She offered Catra her hand. “Come back to bed? I quite liked holding you. Though...” Adora blushed. “Not quite sure I am ready for where that was heading.”

Catra let Adora pull her to her feet. “Sorry.”

Adora squeezed her hand as she led them back to the bed. “I liked it, but... it's a bit fast. We will get there.”

They laid back down under the covers on their sides, staring at each other. “You liked it?”

Adora snorted. “Do I need to continue my love speech?”

Catra blushed. “No. That's not necessary. I just... I guess I am still in disbelief of it.”

“Well I do love you. Completely and wholeheartedly. I've loved you for as long as I can remember.”

“A long time? Did Sparkles know?”

Adora shook her head. “No. I kept that to myself. Though I didn't keep it a secret that I liked women.”

“Yeah there was that thing she kept calling you. Being a lesbian... that means you only like women, right?”

“Yep. Back in the Horde, that was frowned upon, but out here... It's rather normal. I haven't heard of anyone getting treated differently for it.”

“Just another reason why the Horde sucks, huh?”

“What about you? I overheard you with Entrapta. It sounded like men didn't interest you at all.”

“You heard right. I've known for awhile, but never voiced that to anyone.”

Adora gave a short laugh. “We are really bad at this love thing. Instead of just telling the other, we ignored it. Let's not do that anymore. Let's voice what we want from now on.”

“Okay. What do you want Adora?”

“I want to hold you.”

“That's easy to arrange.”

Catra scooted closer as Adora wrapped her arms around her. Her finger played with the short strands of her hair.

“What do you want, Catra?”

“This.”

Catra pressed her face under Adora's chin and let herself purr as Adora pet her. Sleep was quickly claiming them, but before they did, there was something Catra had to ask that was gnawing at her.

“Do you miss my long hair?” she asked.

Adora stopped her petting. “Why do you ask?”

“You were crying about it when you infected.”

“Oh. Sorry. I do kinda miss it. Not that I hate your hair now. I just... It was so long and pretty and fun to play with.”

Catra thought for a moment. “I'll grow it back out.”

“You don't have to if you don't want to.”

“I already decided. Go to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer that Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist is not my joke. It came from a meme that looks to have originated from Yangaf (but I could be wrong. Please correct me if I am.). Catra Applesauce Meowmeow comes from a joke by the creators which caused the meme. I was originally going to come up with my own version, but it quickly became apparent there was no way I could top that. XD
> 
> Note: Vultak and Hunga are characters from the OG She-Ra show, but they weren't siblings in it. They have been completely altered in this interpretation.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed. Please leave a comment to let me know. :)


	6. Before Is Different From Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! It's been a hot minute since I last posted! I wanted to start off by thanking the two people who checked in on me when they noticed I hadn't posted in awhile. You are too sweet. <3 Don't worry. I'm okay and this fic is still ongoing. Though, just a heads up, the next chapter might also take a bit longer to post, but it will happen. I am also planning to post a short one shot Christmas Catradora fic unconnected to this fic and canon divergent. I am hoping to post it by Christmas. It will be my gift to all of you guys. :)

**Chapter 6**

**Before Is Different From Now**

A loud banging at the door caused Catra's ears to twitch. She groaned and pulled the blankets over her head. She buried herself in them and curled up around Adora's stomach to hide from the offending sound. Adora grunted and folded her pillow over her ears. The banging continued despite their displeasure. She heard the doors jingle as someone tried to open them, but they were locked. When it was clear no one was getting up to open the doors, Glimmer teleported herself inside.

“Adora! Wake up! Catra isn't in her room!” shouted Glimmer.

Adora sat up groggily and rubbed at her eyes. “Huh? What?” she mumbled, voice rough from sleep and still not fully awake.

“I said Catra isn't in her room! Do you know where she would have gone? I knew we should've stationed a guard outside her room, but Bow said that would be unnecessary. But now _clearly_ that was the right move.”

Catra sat up and let the blanket fall away from her. The early morning room was cold and she curled up to Adora's warm side.

“Are you telling me that you were going to wake me up before Adora?” asked Catra with a yawn.

Glimmer stopped her rant and stared at them for several moments before she began to rub at her temples. “I should've known. Do you really think this is a good idea?” asked Glimmer.

Adora looped an arm around Catra and scooped her onto her lap. Catra was still half asleep and willingly let Adora move her into an embrace. Catra let her head rest in the spot where her neck met her shoulder and sighed contently.

“I don't care. I saved the universe. I think I deserve to be able to sleep with my girlfriend,” replied Adora.

Catra blushed at that statement and hid her burning face further under Adora's chin.

“You know what? You're right. It's just... be careful. If you want to, go ahead. You two have been separated long enough. Which is why I approved of you going on a date today.”

“Really? Yes!”

“But Bow and I are coming, too.”

“Ehhh. I guess.”

“You guys don't get to have all the fun. It can be like a double date.” Glimmer clapped in excitement.

Catra pulled a bit away to look up at Adora and asked, “Chaperons?”

“Definitely chaperons,” agreed Adora.

“Can we ditch them?”

“We'll see.”

“I'm right here. I can hear everything you are saying,” said Glimmer as she narrowed her eyes.

“Oh we know,” smirked Catra.

“Whatever. Get up and dressed. Breakfast is ready.”

“I haven't had a proper meal in ages,” said Adora as she stretched and got out of bed.

Catra couldn't help, but stare at the expanse of Adora's back as she got dressed. It was covered in a patchwork of scars, some of which were her own doing. She looked down at her claws in shame. She was startled and looked back up when clothes were thrown at her.

“C'mon and get dressed, Catra. I'm starving,” said Adora with a bright smile.

Catra lost her train of thought. She smiled back in response and quickly got dressed. She walked hand in hand with Adora down the hall with that smile still on her face. A giddy feeling thrummed in her veins when their hands remained entwined no matter who saw them. Adora led Catra to the dining hall that was buzzing with people and food. Catra took a deep breath to take in all the smells. She had never smelled more delicious food in her life.

Adora grabbed some plates and filled them up with all sorts of things laid out on the buffet table for everyone. Catra wasn't sure where to even begin at it and was certain Adora would know better. After their plates were full with more food than she thought she could eat, they sat down at one of the empty tables. Catra began to take a bite when she realized Adora and Glimmer were both staring at her.

“What?” she asked as she set her fork back down.

“No. No. Don't worry about us. Go ahead,” said Glimmer.

Catra turned to look at Adora in confusion.

“We just want to see how you like it. Sure you've had real food before like at the party, but you've never had food made by the chefs here. Huge difference,” explained Adora.

Catra shrugged. _How different could it be?_ , she wondered as she finally stuck her fork in her mouth. As soon as the flavor hit her tongue, she knew what they meant. She began to scarf down her breakfast as Adora laughed before starting to eat her own food.

“Oh hey, Gale!” called Glimmer as someone with a tray of food came over.

A teenage girl with long curly purple hair tied in twin half ponytails on top of her head sat down at their table. She wore a wavy dark purple tiara which signified she was a princess, but Catra didn't recognize this girl.

“Hi, Glimmer. Adora,” greeted Gale.

“It's rare to see you in the castle. What brings you here?”

Glimmer and Gale began to converse with each other as Catra leaned over to Adora.

“Who's that?” whispered Catra.

“Oh that's Gale. She's Spinnerella's younger sister,” replied Adora.

“Spinnerella has a sister? Why have I never seen her until now?”

“Well Spinnerella is pretty protective of her, so she is to stay home. She's only 15 and she doesn't have any powers.”

“Does she have that princess thing that Scorpia and Sparkles had?”

“Uh no. Gale's situation... is a bit different.”

“I love my sister, but she can be a bit much,” said Gale as she joined their conversion.

“Sorry,” apologized Adora.

“It's fine. It's nice to meet you, by the way. I have heard about you before from my sister and Netossa,” said Gale as she shook Catra's hand.

“Bow offered to teach you archery before,” reminded Glimmer.

“Spinny would explode if I were anywhere near something sharp. Besides I'm not much of a fighter.”

“Are you and Spinnerella going to return to High Winds now that the Horde is disbanded?” inquired Adora.

Gale played with the hem of her frilly cyan dress. “We've talked about it and we are going to go, but we aren't in a hurry. It's been 13 years since we last stepped foot in it. I don't even remember it. It's going to be strange going back and the damages there are probably going to be pretty bad.”

“Is that why you can't use your runestone? Because you never were able to connect to it? But wait. Then how does Spinnerella have powers? Doesn't she need to recharge?” asked Catra.

“Gale! I didn't tell you that you could leave the house,” scolded Spinnerella as she walked up to them with Netossa.

“It was boring and lonely and I was hungry. Is it really necessary to confine me there anymore?” replied Gale.

“Yes! Just because there is a lull doesn't mean it's now safe. What if one of these clones try to hurt you?”

“Spinny, she's fine. We're in a room full of people who could protect her and she isn't helpless,” calmed Netossa.

Spinnerella rubbed the back of her neck that was now scarred from the chip that was once there. “I know she is okay right now, but a situation can turn dangerous within moments. Please don't run off on your own without telling me,” explained Spinnerella.

“I'm sorry for scaring you, but I'm not a little girl anymore,” replied Gale. “Let's go home together.”

Glimmer leaned back in her chair as she watched Gale, Spinnerella, and Netossa walk away together. “Gale lost her parents when she was a baby. Spinnerella was only a teenager at the time and pretty much raised her. My mom helped her a lot with parenting, so maybe that's why she became so overprotective of Gale,” said Glimmer.

They finished eating and once they returned their food trays, they walked through the halls of Bright Moon.

“Bow left early to run an errand, but he should be back any minute by now. Then we can head out on our double date,” said Glimmer.

“Where are we going?” asked Catra.

“You'll see.”

They turned a corner and saw Scorpia and Perfuma walking toward them. Scorpia was holding a large box.

“Catra! I'm so glad I found you. When we were in the Fright Zone, I gathered this for you from your old room. It's your clothes,” said Scorpia as she handed Catra the box.

“Yes! Thank you! Now I don't have to wear the same thing everyday like I'm Adora or something,” replied Catra as she began to rifle through the box's contents.

“Hey! I wear different clothes,” defended Adora.

“Changing from one white shirt to an identical other one doesn't count as changing your clothes, Adora,” replied Glimmer.

“You're one to talk!”

“I'll have you know this is the traditional clothes worn by the Queen of Bright Moon.”

“This isn't mine,” said Catra as pulled out a pair of black pants. “This is yours, Adora. You can have it back.”

“You can keep them. I don't really like those pants,” replied Adora.

“But I like them on you.”

“Really? But they're too big. Every time I wore them they would always end up around my-” Adora stopped and blushed when she saw Catra smirk at her. “Hey! You were perving on me!”

Catra snorted. “It's not like you made it hard to.”

Adora reached into the box. “Were you hoarding some of my clothes? What else in here is mine?” She pulled out a dark red jacket with gold lining. “This was mine, too.”

Catra pulled the box away from her, making Adora lose her grip on the jacket and it fell back into the box. “You left it. It's mine now. Finders keepers.”

“It's too big for you. Give it back.”

“Nope!”

Adora made a grab for the box, but Catra kept it out of her reach.

“Hey, Adora! Can I talk to you?” said Bow.

They turned to see Bow standing at the end of the hallway. Adora reluctantly turned away from Catra and began to walk toward him. Catra went back the rifling through the box.

“Hey! You found my whip! I dropped this ages ago. Remember that stupid Tung Lashor guy I took this from? Whatever happened to him?” said Catra.

“Didn't you push him into a sandpit?” reminded Scorpia.

“Oh yeah. Eh. He had a stupid name anyways. It was divine justice.”

Catra pulled the whip out and snapped it at the air. She heard an audible thud and turned around to see Adora on the ground. Adora awkwardly rubbed her forehead as Bow rushed over to her to help her up.

“Did you just run into the wall?” asked Bow in astonishment.

“What? Oh. Right,” mumbled Adora as she glanced over to Catra then to Bow then back to Catra.

Catra smirked when she noticed Adora's entranced stare at the whip. She grabbed the end of her whip in her other hand and pulled it taut. She held it up to her face and kept eye contact with Adora as she brought her tongue out and licked along it. Adora's eyes widened and a deep blush blossomed on her cheeks. Catra couldn't help, but laugh when she saw the reaction she had earned. She felt elated that she was able to get such a reaction out of Adora. That she could now flirt with Adora and that it was perfectly okay to because Adora was girlfriend and they loved each other.

Glimmer rolled her eyes at the display and helped Bow pull Adora to her feet. She put her hands on Adora's back and began to push her along down the hall with Bow. “C'mon. You can flirt later today on your date,” said Glimmer.

Catra continued to laugh in their absence, her cheeks burning red and heart racing, before going back through the box. To her surprise, she pulled out her old headpiece she wore in the Horde. She gently ran her fingers along it before putting it on.

“This looks dumb with my short hair, doesn't it?” asked Catra when she saw the pulled faces Scorpia and Perfuma were making.

“No. No. It's just... it's been awhile since I saw you wear it and it does look different with the hair,” rambled Scorpia.

Catra brushed her short locks with her fingers, her fingers running out of hair much faster than she was used to. “I'll have to wait until my hair is longer.”

“You're planning to grow your hair back out?” inquired Perfuma.

“Yeah. This haircut wasn't exactly my idea. It feels weird for my hair to be this short,” replied Catra. She awkwardly rubbed the back of her scarred neck before removing her headpiece. “Hey... Do you want to come with us today?”

“On your date?” asked Scorpia as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Sparkles and Arrow Boy already invited themselves, so I don't see why not.”

~*~

Catra looked up at the looming towers uncertainly. “Mystacor?”

Adora reached over and squeezed Catra's hand as she said, “This place is a lot better when we aren't sneaking around at night while avoiding chipped people and going into creepy old basements. Glimmer, Bow, and I used to come here all the time. It's a lot of fun.”

“Ooh! Where do you think we should go first? Maybe we should get massages. Or we could play some volleyball. Or relax by the beaches,” chattered Glimmer with excitement.

“Maybe we should let Adora decide first. This is her date we kind of hijacked,” said Bow as he placed a hand on Glimmer's shoulder. He glanced back at Perfuma and Scorpia behind them. “Then gained more.”

“I thought we could start by going to Dream Bean. I doubt Catra has ever had a frappe before,” said Adora.

“What's a frappe? Sounds like a swear word,” wondered Catra as she tilted her head in confusion.

“Well that settles it then.” Adora jolted forward while still holding Catra's hand, dragging her along.

They entered a small coffee shop. Catra scrunched up her nose at all the unfamiliar strong scents in the room. Adora laughed when she noticed and pressed a kiss to the tip of Catra's nose. Catra blinked in surprise to how natural that gesture felt.

“I would like two java chip frappes,” said Adora to the barista.

“I would like a unicorn blitz,” said Glimmer.

“And I would like a mermaid splash,” said Bow.

“I would like a guava coconut milk juice,” said Perfuma. She glanced back at Scorpia who looked back at her expectantly, clearly out of her element. “And a strawberry acai tea.”

The barista got to work on their drinks and soon began to hand them out after they were paid for.

“Why are their drinks sparkly?” asked Catra as she alarmingly examined the purple and green drinks Glimmer and Bow were holding then the pretty pink colored drinks that Perfuma and Scorpia had. She then looked down at her drink piled in a strange unrecognizable substance. “Why is my drink fluffy?”

“It's whipped cream. Try it. It's good,” replied Adora as she sipped at her own drink. “Oh. Almost forgot.” She grabbed a bottle from the counter and shook rainbow sprinkles onto both of their drinks.

Catra continued to suspiciously stare at her drink, now even more alarmed that it was another color. Adora giggled and pressed a kiss to Catra's lips. Almost instantly, Catra lost her train of thought and only focused of Adora's lips that were still pressed against her own. She had been expecting only a chaste kiss in such a public place, but Adora continued to exceed her expectations when she felt the swipe of Adora's tongue against her lips. Catra slightly parted her own and suddenly her mouth was full of a sweet taste. Catra had never tasted anything that sweet before and sucked on Adora's tongue for a moment to get more of it.

“Hey! I've been tricked,” said Catra when she pulled away. Her ears twitched when she realized why Adora tasted so sweet. She tried to make her voice sound annoyed, but it came out gaspy, still on a happiness high from being kissed.

“Will you try it now?” asked Adora with a big goofy smile on her face. She was still not over how she could just kiss Catra now when she felt the urge to. She was probably never going to get over that fact.

“Fine,” huffed Catra. She began to sip at the drink. “This is surprisingly good.” _Though not quite as good as when I was tasting it on Adora's tongue_ , she thought. She blushed slightly at that thought and was thankful her blush probably didn't stand out against her darker complexion.

“What should we do now?” asked Glimmer after their drinks were finished.

“I don't know about you, but it's time for my yoga exercises,” said Perfuma. She turned to Scorpia. “Would you like to join me on the beach?”

“I would love to,” replied Scorpia.

“No thanks. I'm not one for the beaches, but you two go have fun. We're going to go to the Steam Grotto,” replied Adora.

“Woo! Steam Grotto!” cheered Bow.

Perfuma and Scorpia waved their goodbyes as they parted ways from the Best Friend Squad. Catra followed behind Adora, not quite clear what a grotto even was. Adora and Glimmer were talking enthusiastically to one another while Catra didn't bother to listen in on their conversation. They walked into another building and she glanced over when she noticed Bow part from the group to go into a different room. She watched him for a moment in confusion before following Adora into the room she had entered with Glimmer.

The building was rather warm and the further they walked into it, the warmer it was. The air was clammy and making Catra begin to sweat. The room they were in was actually a recognizable one to her. The walls were lined with lockers, the entrance had shelves for shoes to be placed on, and benches placed in walkways. It looked a lot like the locker rooms back in the Horde. The familiarity of that calmed her down a bit.

Catra looked back over to where Adora was. She was standing in front of one of the lockers, still immersed in her conversation with Glimmer. Then, without any warning, Adora stripped off her jacket, peeled her shirt up, and unhooked her bra. Catra backed up quickly, slamming her back up against the door in surprise from the sudden clothing change.

“What's wrong, Catra?” asked Adora innocently.

“What do you mean 'what's wrong'? You're topless!” shouted Catra with a burning face and fur standing on end. She didn't think she had ever blushed this much in her entire life.

“We're changing. We used to change in front of each other back in the Horde all the time.”

“I wasn't dating you back then! And I looked then, too! But now I'm your girlfriend and trying to be a better person and not look!” Catra desperately tried to keep eye contact with her and not allow her eyes to wander. She clenched her jaw in determination.

“That changes things?”

“Yes, dummy!” _How can she not see how hard I'm trying?,_ wondered Catra. “Now will you _please_ put a shirt on”

“Just put this on already,” said Glimmer as she handed her a weird white wrap shirt. She couldn't hold back her eye roll from this display.

It was then that Catra noticed Glimmer was also topless, though she didn't really care as much. Instead Catra stared intently at her toes, trying to will her blush away. _How could she possibly be this dense? Does she not feel the same about me? Is that the real reason why she didn't want to go further last night?,_ wondered Catra, her mind spiraling out of control with questions.

“Here. Change into this. We'll wait by the exit out of sight,” said Glimmer as she handed Catra some of the same strange white wrap clothing.

Once changed, Catra met with Adora and Glimmer at the exit and entered into a room she didn't recognize. It was full of steaming pools of water and even more clammy than the last room. Catra scrunched up her nose at the smell of water and magic, an almost intoxicating scent.

“Hey, girls! What took you so long?” called Bow. He was already lounging in one of the pools.

“Sorry. It was Adora's fault,” laughed Glimmer as she entered the pool and sat beside him. He threw one of his arms over her shoulders.

“You're exaggerating. I just didn't think it through. I guess some things have changed,” replied Adora as she slipped into the pool on the opposite side of Glimmer and Bow.

“Some? Adora, we're dating. Or have you forgotten?” said Catra in annoyance as she walked over to the pool and stared at the swirling waters.

“I haven't. And are you coming in or what?”

“You have definitely lost your mind if you think I am willingly going into water.”

“But it's not deep and it's warm. You like warm.”

“I do like warm, but I don't like wet. So that balances out the scale.”

“But I'm here. Does that not tip it back in my favor?”

Catra glared at the water, contemplating the pros and cons of that.

“I don't think a magicat is going into the water, Adora,” said Bow uneasily.

“If you don't go into water then how do you bathe?” asked Glimmer curiously.

“Very quickly and only when completely necessary,” answered Catra in annoyance.

Adora reached for Catra's hand and gently tugged on it. It was not enough to move her, just enough to direct her where she wanted her to go as she said, “We used to go swimming together all the time. Don't you remember when we would sneak out at night to swim in the pond near the Fright Zone? You weren't scared then.”

“I hated that cold dirty water, but you would be almost completely naked and let me cling to you. That was enough of a reason to go into it.” Catra's blush was slightly back. She didn't like the amount of stuff she had been admitting to lately in the presence of others.

Adora smiled and gently tugged again. “You can hold onto me again.”

“You won't let go?”

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

Catra finally relented and let Adora gently guide her into the water, much to the amazement of Glimmer and Bow who were sure she wouldn't. Catra's fur stood on end and claws slipped out from the first feel of the water. She settled on Adora's lap and felt her rub calming circles into her back. Catra's eyes slowly began to close as she let herself relax in Adora's arms. Not even water could make being held by Adora bad.

“See? This isn't so bad,” commented Adora.

“Be quiet.” Catra rubbed her face into the crook of Adora's neck and melted into her hold. Adora was always so warm, like a walking furnace, and the added steaming water made Catra feel so cozy that she began to purr.

“Aww. She purrs?” said Glimmer ecstatically as she began to reach for Catra.

Catra pulled slightly away and flashed her fangs at Glimmer before she made contact, a low growl emitted from her throat. Bow pulled Glimmer's hand back.

“I think some things are for Adora only, Glimmer,” said Bow.

“Eh? But I want to pet her and make her purr. She looks soft.”

“Too bad. Only Adora gets to,” replied Catra as she pressed herself more into Adora and glared at the offending hand that tried to touch her.

Adora laughed and tightened her hold on Catra as she said, “Good. Because I don't want to share.”

Catra's heart began to race from the confirmation. She placed her hands on Adora's cheeks and momentarily looked at her goofy grin before she pulled her into a kiss.

“Um. We're still here,” reminded Glimmer after watching them kiss for several moments.

Catra pulled away to acknowledge them and said, “You were the ones that wanted to come. You can put up with seeing some kissing. Why don't you kiss each other then?”

“No. No. We're good,” said Glimmer and Bow in unison as they quickly waved away that idea.

Catra skeptically watched their uncomfortable demeanor before ultimately deciding not to pursue it further and went back to cuddling into Adora's neck. That seemed like a better use of her time by far. Adora went back to petting Catra's back and without realizing it, she fell into a blissful nap.

She awoke later to the sound of Glimmer whispering, “Shouldn't we wake her up?”

“Let her sleep a bit longer. She probably needs a nap. We have been up for some time now,” replied Adora. She was clearly trying to whisper, but was still speaking too loud and her voice was causing her neck to vibrate against the side of Catra's face.

“What is she? A little kid?”

“Well actually she's a magicat. They require more sleep than we do and naps throughout the day,” explained Bow in a whisper at the proper volume, but Catra's keen hearing could still easily pick up his voice.

“So what you're telling me is that when we were fighting her, we should have just been putting her down for a nap?”

“She's not a little kid, Glimmer,” said Adora in exasperation, her voice still too loud to be a whisper. “Though she does get cranky if it's been awhile since she last slept.”

“You're too loud,” complained Catra, voice a bit raspy from sleep.

“Oh sorry. I didn't mean to wake you.”

Catra pulled a bit away from Adora to look blearily into her eyes. “How long have I been out?”

“Not sure. There isn't a clock in here, but it has been long enough for my fingers to begin to prune.” She showed Catra her hand that had become wrinkly from the water.

“Then we better get you out of here.”

Catra stood up and stepped out of the pool before she turned around to help Adora out. She held Adora's hand as Adora led the way with Glimmer and Bow to another room. This room was full of pastel colors and fluffy pillows and blankets to lounge on. The walls were covered in shelves with bottles of a multitude of different colors. Catra felt Adora put a large towel onto her shoulders and immediately began to dry herself off.

She looked up when she saw Glimmer offering her one of the bottles from the shelves. “Lotion?” suggested Glimmer.

Catra stared at the bottle for several moments, not quite sure how to politely decline the offer, before Adora reached over and took the bottle from her. “Thanks, Glimmer, but Catra doesn't use lotion. It messes with her fur. I'll use this, though.”

“Oh right.” Glimmer scanned over Catra as if she just noticed that Catra was covered in a light coating of fur. “That must be a hassle.”

Catra shrugged. It's not like she knew of any other way of life. She walked off to the side and sat on one of the plush cushions on the ground. Catra began to lick the droplets of water off the fur on her arms as she watched Adora apply the lotion to her shoulders.

“Whoa.”

Catra looked up to see Glimmer staring at her. Catra raised an eyebrow at her, tongue still hanging out mid-task.

“I guess that makes sense. I just didn't consider it,” explained Glimmer. Catra went back to licking her fur clean. It wasn't the first time someone stared at her for the action, but she still disliked the attention. It was a normal thing to her. “I mean... I felt those spikes before when you licked my arm, so I should have put that together. But like... how will that work then?”

Catra looked up at Glimmer in confusion and a bit of annoyance from her insistence to continue to talk while Catra was trying to do something. “How will what work?”

“You know... being with Adora? Won't it hurt?” Glimmer turned to Adora who was now applying lotion to her legs. “I've seen you two make out multiple times by now. Doesn't that hurt?”

“They're retractable. Like my claws,” explained Catra.

“What? No way.”

Catra stuck her tongue out as far as she could, reaching the bottom of her chin, and let the small spines of her tongue retract back in.

“That's so cool!” exclaimed Glimmer before she turned to Adora. “Did you know she could do that?”

Adora snorted. “Yes I did. I grew up with her. She used to groom me when we were kids.” Adora stood back up now that she was finished applying lotion to herself and walked to a shelf that was tucked into the corner of the room. She returned to Catra's side holding a bottle she had grabbed. “This is some kind of oil that's supposed to add moisture back to fur as well as make it taste like apples. That way it won't taste bad when you groom.”

Catra glanced over at the shelf that was barely noticeable among all the other shelves. “You knew that was there,” stated Catra. It didn't come out as a question as there was no question about how purposefully Adora had went there and selected that bottle.

“Yeah. I noticed it on one of our trips here and always wondered how well it would work. The soap in the Horde always made your fur so coarse. I bet this will make it soft and fluffy.”

Catra was touched by the thought and let Adora apply the fruity smelling oil to her fur. Catra's tail twitched from the attention she was receiving and could hardly pay attention to Glimmer and Bow who she was sure were watching them right now. Catra took over rubbing the oil into her fur when it was time to do her legs. She scrunched up her nose when a poignant smell evaded her senses, mixing with the sweet scent of the oil. She recognized the scent and looked over to see Glimmer and Bow painting each other's nails a light blue color.

“Will you paint my nails for me like how you used to do, Catra?” asked Adora as she sat in the cushion across from her, holding up a bottle of black nail polish.

“Yeah. I can do that.”

Catra wiped her hands dry on her towel before reaching for the nail polish. She carefully painted each of Adora's nails black. It had been so long since she last did. Nail polish was not a common place thing in the Fright Zone, but a container of it could sometimes be located among the supplies brought in from the outside world. The cadets would fight amongst themselves to try and get their hands on the rare item while Catra would snag them whenever she found them. She found bottles of all different colors and would use them to paint Adora's nails. Adora would hide her hands from Shadow Weaver for days to not be caught. Despite this, Adora was always excited when Catra would paint her nails.

“We match,” commented Adora as she held up her finished black nails that were now the same color as Catra's claws.

Adora stood up and walked over to Glimmer and Bow to show them. Bow was now rubbing some sort of creamy lotion on his face and Glimmer was applying some mascara. Adora looked through the makeup kit they had in front of them and picked up a small tube. She applied the chapstick to her lips before she offered the same bottle to Catra.

“Want to try? This is supposed to make your lips taste like strawberries,” said Adora.

“Sure,” replied Catra as she stood up. She placed on hand on Adora's and used the other to grab Adora's shoulder. She pulled her close and pressed a kiss to Adora's lips before Adora seemed to process she was about to be kissed. After a few moments, Catra pulled away and licked at her own lips. “Hey it does.”

Adora blushed a deep red and looked down at the tube. “So that's why it's flavored.”

_Leave it to Adora to not put that together_ , thought Catra as she burst out laughing.

~*~

After they changed back into their original clothes, they exited the building together. The sky was murky and puddles were everywhere.

“Looks like it rained while we were in there,” said Adora as she looked at the bottom of steps that now lead to a large puddle with no way to walk around it. Adora jumped across and easily cleared the puddle. She held out her hand for Catra. Catra took her hand and jumped into Adora's arms. Adora effortlessly held Catra in her strong arms and Catra clang to her, refusing to remove herself despite now there was no longer being a puddle in the way.

Bow jumped across and held out his hand expectantly to Glimmer. Glimmer raised an eyebrow at him. “Uh. Bow. I can just-” Glimmer teleported to be beside him. “I don't need help.”

“Oh. Right,” said Bow awkwardly before looking back over to Catra who was still in Adora's arms. “But wait. Catra could easily have jumped that, too... And she can walk!”

“My legs are broken,” replied Catra flatly.

“Everything okay with you two?” asked Adora as she glanced back and forth between Glimmer and Bow who were standing awkwardly beside one another.

“What are you talking about? We're fine,” assured Glimmer while Bow crossed his arms and frowned.

“Hey, guys! How was the grotto?” called Scorpia as she walked up to them with Perfuma.

“It was great! How about we all go play some volleyball together?”

Glimmer ran off before anyone replied. Adora looked over at Bow with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged at her before they began to follow Glimmer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was going to make the date 1 chapter, but eh. It's going to be 2 now. I want to post. XD You'll learn what is going on with Bow and Glimmer next chapter, though it's not hard to guess. I know the focus on this chapter is going to be all the cute Catradora moments, but what did you think of Gale? Why she doesn't have powers will be part of the plot, but it's going to be a bit for that to come into play. I wanted to introduce her before her plot comes into play so her character doesn't feel like she came out of nowhere. I have several OC's planned for this story, but I'm not sure how much they will be in the fic as I'm not sure how interested you will be in reading them. Let me know if you want to see more of Gale.
> 
> The drawing is of Gale in front of her runestone with Netossa's runestone to the side, commissioned by my friend. Check out his art at: https://envyartist.webs.com/


	7. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Adora Day! Sorry this took so long to write. I stared at this blank document for a long time and eventually words got on there. I thought part 2 of the Catradora date would be a great gift for Adora, so I hope you all enjoy. :) These chapters keep getting longer. lol (Though AO3 says it is the day after Adora Day, it is still Adora Day where I am)

**Chapter 7**

**Together**

Glimmer lead Adora, Catra, Bow, Scorpia, and Perfuma to the volleyball court beside the beach. It was a small court where the Best Friend Squad would sometimes have casual fun contests at. There was never a proper way to divide themselves into teams since there were only three of them, so they normally didn't take them very seriously.

“So who's team are we on? I call Adora,” said Glimmer as she pulled Adora to her.

“No way. She is my date. She is on my team,” replied Catra as she pulled Adora to her side. “Be on Arrow Boy's team.”

“Obviously Bow is going to be on my team, too. Best Friend Squad verse...” Glimmer glanced between Catra, Scorpia, and Perfuma, unable to find a characteristic only they shared. “Others?”

“You have had Adora on your team for years. It's my turn.” Catra held Adora's arm in one hand and grabbed Scorpia's arm in her other. “Ex-Horde members verse sparkly people.”

“I already called dibs on Adora.” Glimmer yanked Adora back to her.

“I called dibs on her when I was like 5! You're too late.” Catra pulled Adora back to her.

“How about instead of fighting, we ask Adora who's team she wants to be on?” reasoned Bow as he watched Glimmer and Catra pull Adora back and forth between them.

“Fine!” shouted Glimmer and Catra in unison.

Adora took one look at Catra's pouting face and melted. “Sorry, Glimmer, but I'm going to be on Catra's team.”

Catra stuck her tongue out at Glimmer in victory and walked to the other side of the net as she pulled along Scorpia who reached out toward Perfuma.

“What about Scorpia? I think she wants to be on the same team as me,” interjected Perfuma.

“Scorpia is on our team. It's ex-horde members verse the sparkly people,” repeated Catra.

“Yeah, but-” mumbled Scorpia as she glanced over at Perfuma.

“You know you can be on Adora and Catra's team if you want. I'm totally fine with it,” said Bow to Glimmer.

“But I want to be on your team, Bow,” whined Glimmer.

“It doesn't always have to be that way, though. I feel bad separating Perfuma and Scorpia. You know what? I'll be on Adora and Catra's team then.” Bow raised the net separating them on the court and began to duck to go under it when Glimmer threw the volleyball at him, hitting him square in the back. “Hey!”

“Why are you always like this, Bow?” shouted Glimmer. “I want to be on _your_ team. Me, you, and Adora just like before!”

“I thought you said we weren't _like before_ ,” shouted Bow back as he bunched up the net in his fist.

“We aren't! Yet you sure are acting the same!”

“I'm acting the same?! What about you who keeps putting up this barrier when I get close to you?!”

“That's because you keep acting like things are the same!”

“Well you're acting like a child!”

“Maybe we should take a step back and take a deep breath?” suggested Perfuma.

“Stay out of this!” shouted Glimmer.

“Don't yell at Perfuma like that when she is just trying to help!” shouted Bow.

“Oh sorry. I didn't realize she was your date again!”

“That was over two years ago. You can't keep throwing that into my face!”

“Okay. I was going to ignore this at first and let you two work out whatever this is on your own, but now it's starting to effect my life. So, I give, what's going on?” said Catra as she ducked under the net and stood between them, her tail twitching in annoyance.

Glimmer and Bow clamped their mouths shut and refused to meet anyone's eyes. Catra looked between their red faces with a raised eyebrow. After a few moments, a knowing smile spread across her face when she recognized the glint in their eyes. She knew that glint all too well from her own eyes in the past.

“Ohhhh. I see. You two haven't kissed yet,” said Catra.

“What? No. We totally have kissed before,” defended Glimmer.

“On the lips?”

“We're taking it slow!” explained Bow.

“So slow that you are standing still,” deadpanned Catra.

“We just have been friends for so long. I don't wanna mess this up.”

“Seems more like this is the exact same relationship you had before. Adora and I have been friends for probably way longer than you two and our relationship has certainly changed from that.”

Bow averted his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“Interesting,” continued Catra. “So you two didn't join our date to be chaperons. Rather we were _your_ chaperons. So I was supposed to be the responsible one? Huh. That's a twist.”

“But you were in charge of the Horde. That's pretty responsible,” reminded Scorpia.

“Oh really? Because I sure remember _failing_ at being in charge. We captured a princess, lost princess, captured princess, princess kept escaping her confides, giant hole in the wall, high up ex-Horde member escaping, captured princess, lost princess, anarchy, and wasn't I in jail like twice?”

Scorpia pondered this for a few moments before saying, “Wow. Now that you mention it, you were a pretty terrible leader.”

“Thanks, Scorpia,” replied Catra sarcastically. She turned back to Bow. “A lot of things have happened in these years and your relationship is now changed. You can't keep acting like it's exactly the same or nothing will change.” Bow shifted his feet awkwardly, unable to think of a rebuttal. “Fine. Let me put it this way. You now officially have less dating experience than Adora.”

Bow's and Glimmer's eyes widened and looked at each other. “I hadn't considered that. That is alarming,” whispered Bow.

“She has a point,” whispered Glimmer back.

“Hey! How is that what convinces you?” shouted Adora as she walked over and jerked her thumb to Catra. “We've had the exact same amount of experience. I would know. I was there.”

“Yeah, but you are... rather... um...” stammered Bow.

“It's not that we don't love you, Adora, but you are...” added Glimmer.

“What's the word I'm looking for?”

“Work oriented! You really don't ever relax. So it's kinda hard to imagine you...”

“Doing that sort of thing. Don't get us wrong! We do love you, but you've never shown any interest in relationships before.”

“Well except for that one time.”

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that, but does that really count?”

“I mean sort of.”

“Wait. Back up. What are you talking about? Is there another girl?” exclaimed Catra, her fur standing on end at just the thought that Adora could like another girl.

“I mean... Nothing came of it,” explained Glimmer.

“Who?!”

“Does it really matter? Haven't you ever liked another girl?”

“No. I've only ever liked Adora.” Catra turned on her heel and looked at Adora. Her expression was probably meant to be angry, but she looked more distraught. It made Adora want to comfort her worries.

“It's nothing you need to worry about. It was just a passing crush on a girl who I thought seemed cool then she betrayed us, but then she turned over a new leaf and became good,” clarified Adora then stopped as she analyzed what she had just said. “Huh. You know, that seems like a reoccurring theme for me.”

“So no other girl?” asked Catra as she leaned closer to scan Adora's face.

“Of course not. I may have had another crush in the past, but it's nothing compared to how much I love you. You have nothing to worry about.”

Catra slumped, her fur relaxing. “Okay. If you say so.” Catra turned back to Bow and Glimmer. “As for you two, you need to stop hanging off us.” She grabbed one of their shoulders in each of her hands and gave them a gentle push. “Go do date stuff together. And actually kiss. We'll meet up later.”

Glimmer and Bow made nervous laughs, but obediently walked off the volleyball court toward a building. Catra turned back to the others with her hands proudly on her hips and said, “Well looks like the teams are now sorted so let's play.”

“You still want to play?” asked Adora.

“Yeah. We've been lazing around all day. I need to move around or I'm going to fall asleep again.”

They began to play and within moments, Adora and Catra were winning. It may have been years since the last time they were on the same team, but they had trained together and could move in sync. They knew each other's strengths as well as their limitations. They easily moved to guard the other's weak points, making their defense hard to get through. Scorpia and Perfuma had never fought on a team together and constantly got in the other's way. Scorpia was not agile. She was more brute strength, but was tall. If she was in the right location, she could block the ball. Perfuma could move around the court quickly, but didn't have the best aim.

“Well that was certainly an experience,” said Perfuma after they finally called the game, Scorpia and Perfuma had only scored once, but it was mostly out of pity that Adora had let them get the ball past her.

“Sorry I wasn't much help,” replied Scorpia.

“No. No. You were great. We just need to get better at working together.”

“Like you ever had a chance getting past us. We're unstoppable,” said Catra proudly as she highfived with Adora.

“Well I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I think it's time for lunch,” said Adora.

“Sounds good. We'll catch up with you guys later.”

They waved goodbye to Scorpia and Perfuma. Adora lead Catra down a winding path to where a food cart was stationed and bought some sandwiches. They continued down the stone path while eating their sandwiches. The path lead them to a metal archway with flowers of many colors twined around it. Entering it, they came upon a flower garden. There were more flowers than Catra had ever seen nor knew could be. She had no idea flowers could come in so many different colors, shapes, and sizes. Even the trees had small pretty white flowers in them.

“Do you like it?” asked Adora nervously.

“It's pretty,” replied Catra as she looked around in wonder. She finished her sandwich as she knelt down to look at a small colorful bug that landed on one of the flowers. She had seen one of those in the Fright Zone once, but it had died when it landed on one of the many toxic pipes.

“This is one of the places I always wanted to show you.” Adora had already finished her food. She plucked a bright orange flower and slid it into Catra's hair behind her ear. “So cute.”  
  
“I'm not cute,” said Catra automatically with a frown.

Adora laughed. “Being cute isn't a bad thing. You're always cute to me.”

Catra pondered this information before she replied, “I guess it's okay for you to call me that, but no one else.”

“I can live with that.” Adora placed her hand on Catra's chin and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Catra purred in response.

Catra plucked a small violet flower and began to slowly pull off each petal as she cautiously asked, “Am I cuter than the other girl?”

Adora had to stop and think to understand who she was talking about. “You are way cuter. You don't need to worry, Catra. You don't have any competition in my heart.” Catra pinched at the stem of the flower and caused a murky fluid to get onto her fingers. She scrunched her nose up in distaste. Adora placed her hands over Catra's to stop their fidgeting as she continued, “I have met many people after I left the Horde, but none of them have ever even come close to how cute you are. Will it make you feel better if I told you who it was?”

Catra shrugged. “I think so. It will at least take the mystery out of it.”

“I have no secrets from you. Whatever you want me to tell you, I will. It was Huntara.”

“Who was that?”

“You know, that really tall purple fay lady from the Crimson Waste. I thought she was cool, but not as cool as you obviously.”

Catra burst out laughing. “I definitely have nothing to worry about. I could take her out any time of the week.”

“Please don't. You have nothing to worry about.” Adora's hands slid from Catra's and went down along her body until they rested on her hips.

“Though what exactly is your type? Me and her don't really have anything in common.”

“I wouldn't say that. Both of you can hold your own in a fight, are really cool, exude confidence, speak your mind, and...” Adora smiled as she gently squeezed Catra's hips. “A little bit dangerous.”

Catra dropped the flower and placed her hands on Adora's shoulders as she leaned closer. “Oh so you like bad girls?”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all. That is something I can work with.”

Their mouths came together and they let the sheer feeling of the closeness wash over them. Their relationship had certainly changed from when they were kids and Catra wouldn't change that for anything. She loved where she was now and it felt like what they had always been working toward this. She briefly wondered if they would have ended up like this sooner if Adora had never left then Catra pushed that thought down. She didn't want to think about the “what if's” when the “now's” were already amazing.

Catra pulled away to breathe heavily, her legs were holding her up unsteadily. She shivered when she felt Adora's hands travel further down her body until Adora was leaning down to grasp Catra's thighs and pulled her up. Catra's arms went around Adora's shoulders and pulled her into another kiss as she felt Adora walk until Catra's back was pushed up against a tree.

“Is this okay?” whispered Adora as she broke away from the kiss, her lips still brushing against Catra's as she spoke.

“Yes. More than okay.”

Catra pulled her back in. She had denied Adora long enough that the thought of doing that anymore physically hurt. She was exhausted from running away from her feelings. She wanted to give Adora whatever she wanted and she was overjoyed that what Adora wanted right now was her. The kisses were picking up in heat. Catra sucked on Adora lower lip that still had some of the strawberry flavored lip gloss on it.

Adora pressed Catra further into the tree, the bark digging into Catra's back. Catra couldn't bring herself to care with how close Adora was and yet it was still not close enough. There were so many clothing barriers between them that Catra desperately wanted to remove. Adora's waist was so perfectly nestled between Catra's thighs that she couldn't help to begin to grind. This time she was aware of her actions and didn't stop herself. She hoped Adora would let her. Even through the material of her pants and Adora's jacket, she could feel Adora's well-defined abs and they felt like bliss. Catra's claws curled into the shoulders of Adora's jacket in pleasure.

Catra moaned when Adora pulled away. “Wow. This is amazing,” said Adora. Catra whined when Adora wouldn't return to the kiss. She really didn't want to talk right now when there were better things she could be using her lips for. “But maybe we shouldn't do this in public.”

Catra groaned and hit the back of her head with the tree behind her in annoyance as she tried to regain her senses. She had forgotten where she was and was irritated that Adora was right. Adora rubbed the nape of Catra's neck as their breathing returned to normal. Adora slowly unwound Catra's legs from her hips and gently set her back on her feet.

Catra glanced around the garden and noticed they were completely alone. “We didn't have to stop. There's no one here.”

“You really want me to do you against a tree?” Adora raised an eyebrow at her.

Catra smirked. “If that's an option.”

“It's not.” Adora narrowed her eyes before she began to blush at the thought. “Well... Maybe in the future.”

Catra laughed and clang to Adora's arm as they began to walk down the path again. “I look forward to it.”

Adora's blush deepened. She wasn't used to this dirty talk and was surprising herself that she was enjoying it. Being with Catra certainly caused her mind to whir in directions she was unaware that she had wanted until now. Adora bit the inside of her cheek in thought. “So... How many kisses are we up to?”

Catra stopped and her eyes widened as she realized she had lost count from Adora distracting her. She began to quickly go over in her head, trying to remember when she had lost count. Adora laughed when she noticed and Catra glared at her.

“You know, you don't need to keep count because even if we hit a million, I will still give you more,” said Adora as she pressed a kiss to Catra's forehead.

~*~

Glimmer idly kicked her feet from the stone banister she sat on as she ate her ice cream cone. Bow was leaning against the banister as he ate his, his head against her thigh. “You know... Before Catra joined our group, I couldn't understand how Adora had ever been friends with her, but now I think I get it.”

Bow leaned back and looked up at Glimmer, his head slightly digging into her thigh. “How so?”

“When it was just us and Adora, I knew why I liked Adora. She's fun to be around and always worrying about others. Then when I was being held captive with Catra, I began to understand her better. She was a lot of talk and knew how to get under your skin, but she saw through you. I felt like I didn't have to pretend around her. After trying so hard to be just like my mother when becoming queen, it was nice and I began to find I actually like her.”

“You don't have to pretend with any of us.”

“I know, but being the Head Queen of Etheria is a lot of pressure. I have to keep myself to a higher standard than any of the other princesses. I always knew one day I would have to do this, but I never expected it to be so soon.”

Bow placed his hand on Glimmer's. “We have your back. We always do. Your mom would be proud to see what you have accomplished.”

“And now I have my dad back, but it's just... so bittersweet that he came back before he could be reunited with my mom.”

“Did you... ever tell Catra about this? What the portal she opened caused?”

“I did. Back when we were on the ship together, we would talk. We mostly shared Adora stories. It was really all Catra was interested in hearing about and it was something we could connect on. I told her what had happened to my mother and she had just got up and left when I did. The next time I saw her, it was ordered by Horde Prime and he made her give me cake to try to get me to talk. It seemed like she really didn't want be there or for me to talk. Then the time after that, it was when she broke me out of the prison to save me. You know, looking back at it, I think she might have thought that was the end for her and that's why she wanted to only hear Adora stories.”

“I'm sorry we couldn't get to you sooner and that I was such a jerk to you when we finally did.”

“No. I deserved it, Bow. I was a jerk to you. To everyone. I'm sorry that I wasn't listening to you and I'm glad that you forgave me.”

“I'm not sure yet, but we'll figure out a way to save your mom.”

Glimmer thoughtfully looked at the sky. “Do you think she is really still out there?”

“We won't know until we try.”

“Thank you for always being there for me, Bow.” Glimmer gave him a sad small smile. They sat in silence for a few moments before Glimmer continued, “But like I was saying before with Adora and Catra, after spending time with each of them separately, and finding out I like them in different ways, I still couldn't quite see how they connected. They were so different. And now that I see them interacting together outside the battlefield, I get it. It was like seeing two pieces of a puzzle separately without seeing the full picture. Now that they are together, I can finally see how they compliment the other.”

“I know what you mean. I didn't have the same experience with Catra like you two. Mine was when I tried to connect with her about Adora, she threw me off a cliff. Now that she is no longer trying to threaten us, she is surprisingly likable.”

“Catra isn't mean. Well, I guess she can be, but she can be nice, too,” defended Scorpia.

Glimmer and Bow turned to see Scorpia and Perfuma standing at the bottom of the steps.

“Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Well kind of. She has been our enemy for awhile, so I guess I am still getting used to it,” replied Bow.

“How long have you two been there?” asked Glimmer.

“Long enough to hear that Catra had something to do with why your mom isn't here anymore. I never knew what happened to her and it never felt like it was my place to ask,” replied Scorpia.

“When Catra broke reality, someone had to stay behind between realities in order to fix it and my mom chose to be the one,” explained Glimmer carefully.

“I'm so sorry. I had no idea.” Glimmer looked upwards at the clouds and the many moons. Scorpia scanned the sky with her, not quite sure what she was looking for. “If you don't mind me asking, do you think she is still alive out there? I mean doesn't she need to eat?”

“Actually she doesn't. She's half-nymph. Nymph don't need food or water to survive. I mean we like food and water and can get hungry, but we won't die of starvation.”

“What? Even you?”

“I'm a fourth-nymph, so maybe. It's not like I ever tried nor do I want to. But seeing how I am immune to colds like other nymph, it's very possible I inherited that trait as well.”

Scorpia continued to observe the sky in the silence for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “Nymph can be pretty impressive. I didn't know about the food thing, but I did know about the colds and that they can live for centuries. Vultak had been a nymph.”

Glimmer's eyes widened. “Nymph are incredibly rare and barely any of them exist out of my royal family. I had no idea there were any in the Horde.”

“They are also regarded as the most superior race on Etheria. It's surprising any of them would join the Horde,” added Bow then winced when he realized how bad that sounded. “Sorry. No offense, Scorpia.”

“It's fine. The Horde was not a good place. I don't know the complete story as to why Vultak and his sister, Hunga, were in the Horde, but what I picked up over the years is that they were part of this gang that raided Etheria because they felt like people owed them. They later merged with the Horde and helped it become more powerful.”

“Thank you for telling us about this, Scorpia,” said Perfuma as she placed a hand on Scorpia's shoulder.

Scorpia pulled her into a hug. When Scorpia raised her head, she noticed a large hulking statue nearly as tall as the building they were beside. It reminded her of the goddess statue she had seen in the Fright Zone, but it was slightly different and not in disrepair. Like the other goddess, this statue wore a long flowing white gown, but unlike it, it didn't have scorpion parts. This one had golden feathered wings that matched her striking golden eyes. She had curly bright pink hair that went all the way down to her waist and dark skin. In her hands, she held a crescent moon.

“Who is that? She looks like the statue from the Fright Zone,” said Scorpia as she pointed at the statue.

“Oh. That's the goddess Illumina. She's my goddess. The Goddess of Light and the Third Moon. She's the eldest of all the sisters which is why I'm Head Queen,” explained Glimmer.

“Wow. We have so many moons. How many are even up there? And why the third one? Shouldn't she have like the first one or something?”

“The third moon is one of the largest of all our moons. We have twelves moons in total, but only ten have goddesses. No one owns the two biggest moons,” clarified Perfuma.

“Really? We have twelve? I could have sworn I counted thirteen back when I was counting them at the camp when I couldn't sleep,” wondered Scorpia.

Everyone turned in surprise when they heard screeching laughter. Catra was sitting on Adora's shoulders and covering her eyes as Adora ran around, only being guided by Catra.

“Right!” howled Catra. Adora turned right. “Left!” Adora turned left. “Right! Left! Left! Left! Left!”

“Catra, I know you are making me go in a circle!” laughed Adora after following her directions several times. “So!” Adora grasped at Catra's thighs and began to rapidly twirl in a circle, making Catra's laughter grow even higher.

“Are you crazy? Don't run around blindfolded! Or did you _forget_ we are on an island floating in the _sky_!” yelled Bow as he jumped down the stairs and ran over to them.

“Relax. We aren't anywhere near the edge,” replied Adora then scrunched up her face in thought, her eyes still covered by Catra's hands. “Or at least... I think we aren't.” Catra laughed and uncovered her eyes. Adora glanced around then smiled proudly. “See? Nowhere near the edge. I knew that.”

Catra laughed again and moved her hands down to Adora's chin. She tilted her up to draw Adora into an upside-down kiss that they shared while still trying to contain their laughter. Bow sighed in irritation as he covered his face with one of his hands. He knew that Adora didn't think her actions out completely, but she seemed to think things through even less when Catra was involved.

“So did you and Sparkles finally kiss?” asked Catra as she leaned down to hug Adora's head which made Adora's big goofy smile widen.

A small smile appeared on his lips, unable to stay mad when Adora and Catra had such carefree smiles on their faces. He hadn't seen Adora smile like that in months and he had never seen Catra so happy. “We did,” he admitted.

“That's awesome. Congrats,” said Adora happily.

“It is! And I bet I'm a better kisser than Catra now,” exclaimed Glimmer as she teleported over to them.

“If this is a ploy to kiss me, it won't work,” replied Catra.

Adora burst out laughing as Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“Very funny. Now that we are all together, let's go shopping!”

Bow cheered as Adora groaned.

“Don't like shopping?” asked Catra.

“Not particularly,” answered Adora.

“Well I think it sounds like fun.” She narrowed her eyes at Glimmer. “Just don't put me in a dress again.”

“No promises!” replied Glimmer as she ran off.

They followed Glimmer to a small gift shop. Perfuma and Scorpia began to look at cups and knickknacks while Glimmer and Bow began to flip through racks of clothes. Catra jumped off Adora's shoulders once they entered the shop. Glimmer began to hold up different articles of clothing to Catra.

“I can dress myself. Adora is the one who needs help,” objected Catra as she smacked Glimmer's hand away from her.

Catra began to pick through the clothes and grabbed the items that caught her eyes. Catra went into the dressing room to try on the clothes and exited in her original clothes once she was sure they would fit.

“Why did you change back? I want to see you model them,” complained Glimmer.

“Well then you will have to pay for them first because I am not coming out here with my pants not pulled all the way up,” replied Catra.

“Why would you do that?”

“She has a tail, Glimmer,” reminded Bow behind his hand as he leaned over.

“Oh right.”

“Now for you,” said Catra as she turned to Adora.

“Uh I'm good in the clothes I am in now,” responded Adora.

“You are not getting out of this so easily. You are getting different clothes.” Catra pulled some clothes out of her pile that she had grabbed for Adora. “Put this on.”

Adora obediently went into the dressing room and changed into a dark blue tank top and light wash jeans.

“I don't think I have ever worn blue before,” announced Adora as she looked down at her clothes.

“Well you should. You have pale blue eyes and blue would bring the color out more.”

“When did you begin to know so much about fashion?” Adora pulled nervously at her clothes. She wasn't used to wearing something else outside of special events, but she guessed a date would count as a special event.

“Not everyone is dense to these sort of things. And did you have to put your jacket back on?”

Adora hugged her jacket. “The jacket stays.”

Catra sighed in exasperation, but let her keep it. She now understood why Bow had complained that he had gotten the hard one when they had wanted to dress them for the party. Thinking about that reminded her of something she had been meaning to pester Bow about. He would probably be the easiest to get to talk about the question she had that both Adora and Glimmer had shot down when she asked. Catra walked over to Bow who was looking at boots while Adora went over to look at a rack of accessories with Glimmer.

“So what's this about me wearing a black dress?” asked Catra.

Bow gave her a strange look before replying, “Didn't you wear a black dress to the party?”

“Not that black dress. The black dress that was imagined on me that caused me to wear that.”

“Oh.” Bow gave a short laugh. “That was when we were making a battle plan that got out of reality. For some reason Glimmer imagined you in a black dress during the plan.”

Catra raised her eyebrows. “I thought it was Adora who did.”

“Well yes and no. Glimmer just said a 'long black dress'. It was Adora who added the details of it being sleeveless with a slit. We had gotten way off track at that point describing this make-believe dress.” Bow laughed at that memory. “I put you in a dress in my battle plan, though mine was red and I gave you puns.”

Catra narrowed her eyes. “Please keep me out of your daydreams.”

“Oh c'mon. Don't be like that. I will even share some puns with you for to say. They were cat related.”

“I don't think I can express how much I do not want that.”

Bow laughed as Glimmer ran up to Catra.

“Catra! I found these sunglasses that I thought would look really cool on you!” exclaimed Glimmer.

“Sorry. I don't do sunglasses,” replied Catra.

“But you would look so cool in them!”

Catra gave her a blank look and decided to let her figure out why. Glimmer slid the sunglasses on Catra's nose and they immediately fell to the ground as soon as Glimmer let go. Glimmer stared at the sunglasses on the floor in confusion before picking them up and trying again. She caught them as they fell and continued to look at them in utter confusion as to why they wouldn't stay on Catra's face.

“I told you. I don't do sunglasses,” repeated Catra.

Glimmer looked closely at the sunglasses then at Catra and it finally clicked. “Oh. Wait. Your ears are up there.” She examined Catra's cat ears perked at the top of her head as if she had just noticed them. Glimmer slowly tilted the sunglasses up to hook onto her cat ears, but her ears sat too high on her head and it caused the sunglasses to be at an angle, making them useless and look ridiculous. Glimmer burst out laughing.

“Are you done yet?” asked Catra, not amused.

“Sorry. Sorry. I guess that just isn't going to work. Let me find a pair made for you,” said Glimmer as she tried to stop herself from laughing and failing.

“Good luck with that.”

Glimmer began to look through the racks and racks of sunglasses only to discover to her dismay that all of them were styled to hook onto ears on the side of one's head. It was the most common placement for ears, but there were some beastfolk who had ears on top of their head, not just magicats.

“This is an outrage. Not a single pair? This is discrimination!”

“If you want to talk about discrimination, not finding sunglasses that fit me is pretty low on the list.”

“Small things matter, too. I am going to talk to who is in charge of this store.”

“You are going to yell at the owner? How will that help?”

Glimmer turned to her with a wicked smile on her face. “Catra, I am the queen. I _am_ the highest authority in all of Etheria.”

“You would use your queen status to a harass a poor shopkeeper?” A matching wicked smile appeared on Catra's lips. “I am starting to like you even more, Sparkles.”

Glimmer went to the front of the store where a pale elderly man sat the counter behind the register reading a newspaper.

“Excuse me, sir, but do you carry any sunglasses for beastfolk?” inquired Glimmer.

The man scoffed and jerked his thumb to the door as he said, “No. The beasts usually make do with goggles. Don't sell them here. Barely any come and it's a pain to stock unpopular items.”

Glimmer raised her eyebrows in shock. “I'm sorry, but... did you just say _beasts_?”

The man raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah. It's a pain to say beastfolk all the time.”

“I don't care if it's longer. It's an incredibly rude thing to say.”

“So what? It's just a shortened form.” He pulled a staff out from under the desk and smacked it hard against the surface, the sound echoing off the walls. “Hey! You there! Oaf! You better not break anything. Those are expensive!”

Scorpia jumped in surprise and put her claws behind her back as she replied, “Sorry. I wasn't touching it. I swear.”

“Why are your claws behind your back? Are you stealing? I don't take kindly to thieves.”

Perfuma gasped. “How could you accuse her? Scorpia has done nothing to cause you to be so rude.”

“Nothing? The beasts are always armed with claws, teeth, and even poison.” The elderly man gestured between Scorpia and Catra. “I would have nothing if I didn't have this staff.”

“You want me to have human hands? How about yours?” remarked Catra as she unsheathed her claws.

“Catra, no. Let's just get out of here. He isn't worth it,” said Adora as she placed a hand on Catra's shoulder.

“What's going on in here?”

They turned to see a man with short brown hair and glasses standing in the doorway of the shop. He was holding a bag of groceries in one hand and toddler with yellowish green hair tied up in pigtails in his other arm. The man and the child both had pointed ears that signified they were fay. The man looked between everyone, his eyes lingering on Catra and Scorpia.

“Uncle, are you harassing the customers again? I'm terribly sorry for whatever has transpired here,” said the man as he bowed to them.

Elderly man grumbled before departing into the backroom as Glimmer explained to the nephew what had happened.

“I'm sorry that happened. He has very outdated thinking and the fact that a lot of beastfolk were members of the Horde didn't help his opinion. Not saying that you are part of the Horde or rather, ex-Horde, but it has caused a poor opinion among many people. It's a terrible assumption to base your characters on the actions of others. I'm deeply sorry and hope this hasn't dampened your opinion of Mystacor. It's not much, but you can keep the items you already picked out as an apology gift,” said the nephew.

The group exited the store with the items in hand.

“The nerve of that man!” fumed Glimmer.

“I mean... He's not completely wrong,” said Scorpia as she stared at her feet.

“No, Scorpia. Don't listen to him. You are a wonderful and kind person,” comforted Perfuma.

“But me and Catra have done those things that he accused us of. We have stolen and were a part of the Horde and used our claws and teeth to get our way. Well Catra more of the teeth one. My teeth aren't pointy. I have poison instead.”

Perfuma placed her hand on Scorpia's arm. “We all have done things in the past we aren't proud of. Some more than others, but we can't let it define us. We have to move on and work to a better version of ourselves than we were yesterday. I can already see how you have changed for the better and it's beautiful.” Perfuma turned to Catra. “That goes for you, too, Catra. You didn't attack that man or lose your temper for most of the day.”

“True, but I did steal this from the shop before we left,” replied Catra as she held up a small rainbow button pin. “I don't even know what it is.”

“So did I,” replied Adora as she held up the same pin.

Adora and Catra began to laugh together.

“I'm going to talk to my Aunt about this. I will not stand for this bigotry, especially in my own kingdom,” said Glimmer as she continued down the path toward the largest building on the island.

“Your own kingdom? Mystacor is a part of Bright Moon? I thought it was its own thing,” inquired Catra.

“My Aunt governs Mystacor, but the island is under Bright Moon jurisdiction. So yes, it is a part of my kingdom. Technically all of Etheria is, but the other princesses look after what they govern and Bright Moon only steps in when completely necessary. There is a balance and we try not to force them to listen to us even though we are of the higher authority.”

They entered the building and Glimmer strode through the halls to where she was sure her Aunt Castaspella would be.

“Oh, Glimmer. There you are. I set up the six bedrooms like you requested for you and your friends,” greeted Castaspella.

“Thanks, Auntie, but I think we are only going to need five after all.”

Castaspella narrowed her eyes. “I know you are the Queen now, Glimmer, but you are still my niece and I don't know how I feel about you sharing a bedroom with your boyfriend.”

Glimmer blushed a deep red. “No! No! It's not for me! It's for those two,” exclaimed Glimmer as she gestured at Adora and Catra. “We can put those two in different rooms, but they will just end up in the same one anyways. So I thought we could just skip that step and give them the same room to begin with.” Glimmer took a deep breath. “But there is something else I need to talk to you about, Auntie.”

Glimmer walked off with her Aunt to another room. The rest followed Bow to where the bedrooms were located and Adora lead Catra into one of them with her.

“Let me see the clothes you got,” said Adora as soon as the door was closed with her hand reaching out for them.

Catra handed Adora the clothes with a raised eyebrow. Adora threw the shirt onto the bed and sat down with the pants still in hand. She reached out in front of her with her eyes closed as she concentrated. She called forth her sword, but shaped it into a small dagger. Adora scanned the back of the pants and carefully sliced a hole into them.

“You don't have to do that. I can do that myself,” reminded Catra as she sat down beside Adora.

“I know, but it has been a long time since I last got to do this for you and I want to.” Adora held up the pants to look at her handiwork. “I'm sorry about that man earlier.”  
  


Catra shrugged. “Eh. I'm used to it.”

“That doesn't make it okay. Even though the Horde is full of beastfolk, they still looked down at so many members. When I left the Horde, I had hoped I wouldn't see that anymore, but even out here, that prejudice still exists.”

Catra grabbed the pants. “I don't need you to baby me or protect me. I got around fine without it.”

Adora turned to Catra with shining eyes. “I know you don't need my protection. I'm not doing this because I think you need it. I'm doing it because I love you and I want to.” Adora lightly placed her hands on Catra's shoulders. “Please, Catra. Please accept my love for you and not push me away.”

Catra calmed down and placed her hands over Adora's, her heart racing from the pleading look on Adora's face. “Of course, dummy. I love you, too.” Catra leaned forward to kiss Adora and stopped before meeting her lips when they heard banging at their door.

“Hurry up and change you two! My Aunt prepared dinner for us and then there is going to be a fireworks display!” shouted Glimmer.

~*~

“I would like two rock candy sticks,” said Adora to the person working the food truck.

“Didn't we just eat?” asked Catra as she grabbed the stick being handed to her.

“Always room for desert.”

They walked hand in hand down to the rocky beach to find a place to sit. The others were close behind them as well as a huge crowd to squeeze past. The sky was now dark and the stars were on prominent display.

“It's gotten pretty cold,” commented Catra and jumped in surprise when moments after saying that, she felt Adora put her jacket over her shoulders. “Won't you be cold now?” Adora was now in the dark blue tank top, her strong arms on display. Catra had also changed into her new clothes which was an asymmetrical cut black top and dark purple leggings. She had been surprised to discover the hole Adora had cut for her had fit her tail perfectly. Adora had clearly remembered exactly where to cut Catra's pants.

“I'll be fine. I'm going to find us a good spot.”

Adora ran ahead. Catra pulled at the collar of Adora's jacket and sniffed it. She lightly purred because it smelled like Adora and that was the most comforting scent in all of Etheria, at least according to Catra. Catra turned when she noticed Glimmer and Bow were giving her knowing smiles. She blushed and hiked the collar up higher to hide her face.

“Over here!” called Adora.

They walked over to a rocky area Adora had found large enough to sit them all. They settled in the spot. Catra sat on the large rock beside Adora and Adora immediately put her arm around Catra's shoulders. Adora pulled her closer and Catra leaned her head against Adora's chest as they continued to eat their candy.

“Oops,” mumbled Adora when a piece broke off and fell down her shirt.

Adora took her arm away to pull her shirt open to try to fish the piece out. She glanced over when she felt like she was being watched. Catra had leaned away, still eating her candy, and was quietly observing what Adora was doing. Adora blushed and pulled her shirt up to cover her breasts she had partly exposed.

“Pay attention to your surroundings, idiot,” laughed Catra.

“I just wasn't thinking.”

“Do you ever?”

Adora gave a short embarrassed laugh before pulling Catra back to their original position. “Get back over here, you perv.”

Catra purred and lightly rubbed her ears on Adora's chest, scratching a sensitive part of her. “I've been thinking... You can have your old jacket back, but I want to keep this one.”

Adora raised an eyebrow at her. “Since when do you like my jacket?”

“She doesn't. She just likes that it smells like you and the other one doesn't anymore,” interrupted Glimmer who was sitting on the rock below them with Bow.

“Shut up, you,” grumbled Catra as she nudged Glimmer with her foot who laughed in response.

Adora giggled and said, “I'll think about it.”

They turned when the sky began to explode into different colors. There wasn't any explosion sounds as the fireworks were made by the sorcerers with magic. In the silence of the display, beautiful music was played from unseen instruments Catra had never heard before. They stared in awe at all the colors and shapes. They reminded Catra of the flowers they had seen in the garden, only in the sky and brighter. The flower Adora had put in her hair earlier was still there. It was her momentum from their adventure.

“Did you have fun today, Catra?” asked Adora as she pulled Catra closer to her.

Catra moved to sit on Adora's lap. “Today was amazing. Thank you, Adora.” They pressed a kiss to each other's lips as the fireworks continued to light up the sky.

Fanart done by my amazing friend, Envy, for Adora Day. Check out more of his art at: <https://www.facebook.com/EnvyARTandTarot>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly a month again to write. Lol
> 
> For anyone who wants the clarification of the hierarchy of races on Etheria: Humans make up most of Etheria and are considered average. They are incapable of magic unless they are princesses or of mixed blood with a race that can do magic. Nymph are any being with wings, be it bird, insect, or bat, so both Angella and Flutterina. They are at top of the chain, closely followed by fay who have pointed ears. Fay can also have horns, but not all of them. Both Shadow Weaver and Huntara are fay. Fay are capable of casting spells which Micah and Castaspella can because they are part fay. Then there are elves and different versions of them can be found like the sea elves in Mermista's kingdom or the plant elves like we saw in season 5 with the mushroom heads. Then at the very bottom, below humans, are the beastfolk. Beastfolk not being treated equally is partially inspired by RWBY (like the faunus) and Inuyasha (like the half-demons). Also because in general, the only places we see beastfolk in the show are for the most part in the Horde, pirate ships, and the Crimson Waste, all locations where one must fight to survive.
> 
> Illumina – ill-loom-in-uh


	8. And Mayhem Ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a bit since I posted, but this story is steadily being worked at. Hope you enjoy. It's one I have been excited to write. :)

**Chapter 8**

**And Mayhem Ensues**

Adora waved good night to Glimmer before entering the room assigned to her with Catra. As soon as the door clicked close, Catra pushed Adora up against the door, kissing her senseless. Catra eagerly swallowed Adora's surprised gasp. Catra was everywhere on Adora, burning a path along her skin. Adora's jacket that had still been on Catra's shoulders fell to ground and forgotten in their haste.

Catra's hands insistently ran along Adora's waist and yanked at her shirt that she had stupidly tucked into her pants. Once her shirt was free of its confines, one of Catra's hands sneaked under the fabric. Her fingers tentatively skimmed Adora's defined abs, drawing a moan out of Adora.

Adora didn't seem to know what to do with her hands during Catra's relentless “kiss attack”. She rubbed at Catra's shoulders and trailed along her back, grasping at her shirt. Then Catra was walking backwards and pulling Adora along with her by the shirt. Adora stumbled on her jacket on the floor, but managed not to fall. The room was dark with the only light in it coming from the moons shining in the windows. Adora hadn't a chance to turn on a light before Catra had pounced on her.

Catra fell backwards onto the bed once she felt it on the back of her legs and pulled Adora down with her. Adora flailed slightly at the sudden shift and put her arms out as she fell. Her hands landed by Catra's head, hovering above her. It had broken their kiss and Adora took the chance to stare at Catra. Her cheeks were flushed and her glistening lips were slightly parted, her breath coming out in short gasps. Adora felt her heart pick up in speed as Catra looked back at her.

However Catra was already growing bored of the staring and wanted to return to the kissing. She lightly tugged at one of the straps of Adora's shirt, but she didn't budge and only continued to be mesmerized by Catra. Catra huffed in annoyance and decided on a different route to get her desire across. She ran her fingers along Adora's sides until she got to the bottom of her shirt and smoothly peeled it up. Adora picked up her arms to allow the removal.

Only Adora hadn't considered what allowing that would entail. Catra could see in the dark much better than Adora and she was sure Catra could make out all the fine details of her bra which she was unabashedly staring at. Catra slowly ran her finger along the hem of the underside of Adora's sports bra and intently watched the path it went. Adora tried to stay still, but it tickled and made her twitch. The fingers of one of Catra's hands began to make a trail down Adora's waist again until it made it to Adora's pants and played with the button. That was where Adora had to draw the line.

“Uh. I would prefer to keep those on,” said Adora as reached down to grasp Catra's wrist.

“But isn't that what happens after dates?” asked Catra as she ran her free hand along Adora's back.

Adora worried her bottom lip. “Is that something you want?”

“Yeah,” replied Catra breathlessly.

Adora continued to nibble at her bottom lip as she glanced all over Catra, not replying. Catra brought her free hand to cup Adora's cheek and pressed her thumb against her lips to get her to stop.

“Don't you want that?” asked Catra as she tried to keep eye contact with Adora despite how much she was blushing and worrying.

“That definitely isn't the issue here.”

“Then what is?”

Adora went back to staring at Catra and right before Catra was about to try again to get her to reply, Adora opened her mouth to ask, “Don't you think this is happening too fast?”

Catra tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean? We've been friends for years. Isn't this natural progression?”

“But it's not that straightforward. We were separated for years. And now we are back together and we just started kissing. This is just escalating too fast.”

Catra gently ran her thumb along Adora's lip. “Okay. I'll stop. I don't want to force you to do something you aren't ready for.” Adora let go of Catra's wrist, which allowed Catra to bring her other hand to Adora's unoccupied cheek to frame her face. “What do you want, Adora?”

Adora's mouth went dry, but without thinking, she replied, “To cuddle and to talk.”

Catra nodded and slid further down the bed to settle on one of the sides. “What do you want to talk about?”

Adora laid down on her side on the other pillow, facing Catra with only about an inch between their noses. “I dunno. About our time apart?”

Catra winced. “You want to hear about that?”

Adora reached out and held Catra's hand. “Yeah. You don't have to tell me anything that makes you sad or uncomfortable. Just anything you want to tell me. Even if it is just something small, I want to hear about it.”

Catra thought for a moment before replying, “I hate boats.”

Adora laughed. “I would imagine. I like cake.”

“When on a mission in the snow with Entrapta, she forgot to bring a space heater, but brought a weird cat portrait.”

“I tried to hit a ghost with my sword, but it turned out to be a hologram. They were still creepy.”

“Busy work is boring and locating files is annoying.”

“I accidentally transformed a horse with my powers and that's how we got Swift Wind.”

Catra laughed. They continued to tell random things they learned or did during their time apart and gravitated closer together until their eyes grew heavy and they fell asleep. They later awoke to their room being full of light and someone banging at their door. Catra slowly sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

“Is that how they always wake you up? Would be nice to sleep without a wake up call,” grumbled Catra with a yawn.

“No. Not usually,” replied Adora as she sat up and blinked blearily. “Come in!”

Bow burst through their door while tapping away at his tracker pad. “Sorry, but we gotta go! My dads sent me a message that they needed to see me right away and now they aren't replying! What could be happening? It's gotta be important if they sent me a message on my tracker pad! Oh no. What if they are hurt or in danger?! Or eaten by a monster?!” Bow continued to rant as he paced all over the room.

“It's okay, Bow. I'm sure they're fine and we'll go right now,” said Adora as she got out of bed and placed her hand on one of Bow's shoulders.

“Thanks, Ado- Why are you not wearing a shirt?”

Adora looked blankly down at herself, realizing she was still just in her bra and pants from last night. “Oh, right. Give me a second to get dressed then we can leave.”

Catra stretched as she got out of bed. She grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom attached to the room to change after Adora was done with changing back to her usual attire as well.

“I'm back from taking Perfuma and Scorpia back to Plumeria,” said Glimmer as she entered the room. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. We're all ready,” said Adora as she grabbed Catra's hand and walked over to Glimmer and Bow.

“Wait a minute, you're not going to-” started Catra before Glimmer teleported the four of them. Catra doubled over onto the ground. “I'm going to be sick.”

Adora knelt down and rubbed at Catra's back.

“That's not quite right. I meant to teleport us right beside the library,” said Glimmer as she looked around the Whispering Woods. “Let's try that again.”

“No! Not again!” shouted Catra as she leaned away from Glimmer.

“It's okay. We aren't that far from it. We can walk from here,” replied Bow.

Adora helped Catra to her feet and they began to trek through the woods. As they walked along a path, they began to hear strange music playing. In the distance, they could see someone standing on a boulder by the path. As they came closer, they could see it was a woman with curly light green hair tied up in a high ponytail, her locks brushing her tan shoulders as she played a mysterious sounding song on a violin. She suddenly stopped playing when a twig crunched under Bow's feet.

The woman turned to them and her pale pink eyes lit up. “Bow!” she shouted in excitement.

“Lyric!” shouted Bow back with the same amount of enthusiasm. Lyric set her violin down beside her feet and bent her knees as Bow shouted, “Wait! Don't get down that way!” It was ignored as Lyric jumped and Bow scrambled to catch her, just barely managing to do so.

“Wow. You've gotten stronger. I was sure I was going to crush you,” she laughed.

“Then why would you choose to get down that way if you thought so?”

Lyric laughed. “I heard you joined the Rebellion. Did your scrawny arms finally get some muscles? Lemme see!” She yanked at his arm.

“Well not to brag or anything, _but_ ,” said Bow as he made a muscle while Lyric clapped.

“Who's that?” whispered Catra to Adora. Adora shrugged.

Glimmer coughed. “Um Bow, who is this girl you've never mentioned before?” she asked uneasily.

“ _Eh_! You've never mentioned me before? How mean! I tell everyone about you,” whined Lyric as she clung to Bow's arm.

Bow rolled his eyes at Lyric. “You're being over-dramatic. Why are you- Oh. Your girlfriend broke up with you again, didn't she?”

“She did!” whined Lyric as she slid to the ground. “She called me a freeloader and told me to get a job! Can you believe it?!”

“Imagine that.” Bow reached his hand down and helped Lyric back to her feet. “Now c'mon. You are supposed to be the older one.”

She stuck her tongue out at him as she turned to regard the other people and said, “Traveling around with a gaggle of girls? Are you becoming like River?”

“I am not becoming like River,” scoffed Bow. “I'm not running around Etheria half-naked after every pretty girl I see.” Lyric pointedly looked at Bow's exposed midriff. He blushed and covered it. “Okay I see your point, but it's not like that. I am only dating one of them.” Bow turned toward the others. “Lyric, I would like you to meet the Best Friend Squad. Best Friend Squad, this is Lyric. My sister.”

Glimmer scrambled for what to say while Catra snickered.

“Best Friend Squad? Ugh. You're getting as lame as our dads,” said Lyric as she rolled her eyes.

“It's not lame. It's cool. You're the one who uses the word 'gaggle',” defended Bow.

“Oh that's right. You're the youngest of thirteen,” stated Adora as she thought back on when they first learned Bow had siblings.

“Yep! I'm the tenth oldest! Or the fourth youngest, however you want to look at it. Nice to meet'cha. Thanks for always looking out for my baby brother,” said Lyric excitedly.

“I'm sorry. I thought... It's just... You don't look anything like Bow or you dads,” stammered Glimmer.

Lyric laughed. “That's because I'm adopted, silly. George and Lance took me in when I was only 2. Adoption wise, I was the fifth to be adopted.”

“Remember when Scorpia talked about how she was born from the power of the Eternal Amber? Well our dads did the same thing to have me. I'm the only one that was born from it. It's why they had wanted to give the library to me. Back when they did, I only had five siblings. Our dads traveled all over Etheria and explored many First Ones ruins to research. They went through many war stricken towns and along the way, met several orphans that they ended up adopting and that's how I ended up with so many siblings,” explained Bow.

“You said you are dating one of them. Ooh! Is it the catgirl? If not, can I have her?” exclaimed Lyric as she clang to Bow's arm. Adora sidestepped slightly to stand in front of Catra, an action not lost on Lyric who smirked in response. “Oh. I see. So you are dating the pink one then?” Lyric looked Glimmer up and down several times. “She's cute.”

“It's nice to meet one of Bow's sisters. I'm Glimmer,” said Glimmer as she shook Lyric's hand.

“Glimmer? Isn't that the same name as the Queen? But that can't be right.”

“Well...” began Bow.

“Oh. Is it Queen Shimmer? Glisten? Twinkle?”

“No. No. You're going the wrong way. You were right the first time.”

“Weird. Was she named after the Queen?”

“Try again.”

Lyric's eyes widened and she whispered, “No.” She glanced between Glimmer and Bow. “I knew you joined the Rebellion and made friends with princesses, but I never expected you to come home with the freaking Queen!” She clamped her hands over her mouth then whispered, “Am I going to get punished for being disrespectful?”

Bow laughed. “No way. Glimmer is really nice. All the princesses are.”

“Really? Any of them single?”

Bow thought for a moment. “Actually no. Well except one.”

“I'll take her!”

“She's a child.”

“Should've lead with that. What about a cool warrior chic or dude?”

“I don't think so. Besides I can't think of anyone I hate enough to do that to.”

Lyric scoffed. “I am a delight!” She turned on her heel and began to climb up the boulder she had been on earlier. “So did dads call you here, too?”

“They did. Any idea what it's about?”

“Nope. You know they contacted all of us when they found out you joined the Rebellion. None of us knew anything about that. You could've told us about it. We wouldn't have ratted. Ever since, dads have been trying to push one of us to take over the library since you don't want it.”

“Sorry about that. Dads always had such high expectations for me. I didn't want to let them down and none of you are good with secrets.”

Lyric laughed and brushed herself off once on top of the boulder. “Welcome to the 'You're a Disappointment' Club.” She picked up her violin and bow and began to put them in the case slung to her back.

“What a weird looking weapon,” commented Catra.

“Oh I know this one. It's not a weapon. It's an instrument. It's called a violin. Bow plays one of them sometimes,” advised Adora.

“I'm the one who taught him how to play,” said Lyric as she jumped down, easily landing on her feet without Bow's help.

“I thought all of Bow's siblings were historians,” said Glimmer.

“Well sort of. We traveled all over as kids and our dads taught us all about history. I still love to travel, but music is my life. Sometimes I run into cool First One history stuff and I send it back to our dads. All of us kind of have our own thing. History is more of a hobby to us,” explained Lyric as they all began to walk down the path toward the library.

“No. No. That's not right. I'm such an idiot,” grumbled someone.

They turned to see a reddish brown lizardo man sitting against a tree a bit away from the path. He was frantically scribbling in a notebook with an oil crayon.

“Well maybe I can make that work. Like this? No. More like this. Yes,” he continued to mumble to himself.

“Mark!” shouted Bow and Lyric excitedly as they ran toward him.

Mark looked up in surprise and replied calmly, “Oh. Bow. Lyric. Hello.”

Bow and Lyric each grabbed one of Mark's hands and pulled him to his feet. Mark glanced forlornly at his art supplies as he was brought over to the others.

“Guys, I would like you meet our big brother, Mark,” introduced Bow.

“Well he's not much a big brother to me. We're the same age. He's only got three months on me,” said Lyric as she poked Mark's cheek.

“Wow. You and your siblings really don't look anything alike. I would have never guessed he was your brother,” said Glimmer.

Mark looked between Glimmer, Adora, and Catra. His green eyes lit up. “Oh. A magicat,” he said to himself.

“She's taken,” announced Lyric as she raised her hand.

Mark narrowed his eyes at her. “I wasn't thinking that. You were the only one thinking that.”

“And I successfully thought that and was shot down. We're the only single people here! Just you and me.”

Mark's eyes widened. “Really? Even Bow?”

“Yes! Our baby is growing up and dating the pink one.”

“When you first said that we were the only single ones here, I thought those girls were a couple together.”

“I thought that, too.”

“Why is that more believable than me having a girlfriend?” asked Bow in annoyance.

“Our baby is growing up!” cried Mark and Lyric as they group hugged Bow.

“I hate you both,” said Bow without any malice.

“Well it's nice to meet you both. I'm Glimmer and this is Adora and Catra,” introduced Glimmer.

Mark stared at her for several moments before turning to Bow and said, “When I told you to become a prince, I didn't mean for you to take that literally and come home with the Queen.”

“Wait. You knew?” exclaimed Lyric.

“I figured it out. Not everyone is as clueless as you,” snickered Mark as he walked back over to the tree he had been at to collect his art supplies. “I take it that dads called you two here as well. Either of you know what about?”

“Not a clue.”

Mark came back over and they all began to walk down the path together toward the library. Lyric threw her arms over both of her brothers' backs who stood at similar heights while she was nearly a head shorter than them.

“Wait. Lyric, don't,” warned Mark, but it was ignored.

Lyric lifted her legs and Mark fell over from the weight. Bow tried to hold up Lyric on his own, but fell as well.

“Lyric!” grumbled Bow and Mark in annoyance while she laughed and got off them to run down the path.

“Can't catch me!” she giggled as Bow and Mark chased after her.

“I'm beginning to see where Arrow Boy had his training to be able to put up with you two,” said Catra as they followed behind them at a normal pace.

“Yeah. Just us. I take it you think you are a delight as well,” replied Glimmer as she rolled her eyes.

They entered the library and were surprised by how different it looked from the last time they were there. It still had the shelves full of books and the history exhibits, but they were pushed to the side to allow tables full of food and many people of all different shapes and sizes who were milling around, talking to each other. Several children ran around, playing together. Lyric jumped onto a dark woman with curly black hair who pulled her into a hug. Mark sat down on the ground and began to show his drawings to a fay man with long gray hair tied into a loose braid. Bow came back to their side.

“Let me introduce you guys to everyone. That's my second oldest brother, Haven. He's a doctor,” said Bow as he gestured to a tall dark man with long blue dreads who was standing with a woman and two young girls. “That's his wife, Hope, and their daughters, Hazel and Heather. That's my second oldest sister, Anise. She's a florist.” Bow gestured to a pale purple fay woman with long orange hair and antlers who was standing with a man and two young boys. “And her husband, Bailey, and their two boys, Basil and Leaf. And that's my third oldest brother, Cliff. He's a carpenter.” Bow gestured to a tall pale burly man with well groomed brown facial hair who was standing with an equally burly man and a young girl and boy. “And that's his husband, Oak, and their kids, Cherry and Birch. And that's my fourth oldest brother, River. He's a fisherman.” Bow gestured to a pale man with short light blue hair and a bushy mustache sitting at one of the plush armchairs, having an amiable conversation with Cliff. “And that's my third oldest sister, Carol. She's a singer.” Bow gestured to the woman Lyric was talking to. Lyric was now holding a toddler in her arms. Another woman was hanging off of Carol. “Lyric is holding Carol's daughter, Jazz, and that's Carol's wife, Blue.”

“I don't think I am going to remember all of this, Bow. You have such a big family and you act so different around them,” said Glimmer.

Bow laughed as he looked between Glimmer, Adora, and Catra. “I guess this would be overwhelming to all of you. None of you have siblings. But when you have a big family like this, you need to know how to take a hit and dish one back, but at the end of the day, we're still family and love each other. My siblings know how to get on my nerves, but I still care about them deeply. Growing up, we traveled all over together and didn't really have any other friends. The library was our home base, but we were barely ever here.” Bow looked around the room thoughtfully. “C'mon, there's more people I want to introduce you to.”

Bow held Glimmer's hand and walked her over to where Mark was sitting on the ground with the fay man. Most fay people had pointed ears, but some had droopy ears instead and that man was one of those fay. A woman sat on Mark's other side. Her hair was styled into short twists and dyed rainbow, which contrasted starkly with her dark skin.

“This is my older brother, Tress, and my older sister, Aurora. They are the fashionistas of the family and the closest to my age out of all my siblings,” said Bow.

Tress looked between Glimmer to Adora and Catra who had followed behind them.

“Highly unusual for you to bring anyone home, Bow. These people must be special,” said Tress.

“They are,” said Bow proudly. “We're the Best Friend Squad. That's my girlfriend, Glimmer, and my friends, Adora and Catra.”

Catra's ears perked up at being referred to as “a friend” then scolded herself that Bow probably just didn't want to go into the specifics of the rocky relationship they all had with her.

Tress began to look intensely at Catra which made her slightly step behind Adora. “A magicat? Does she know?”

“Oh. No. I haven't said anything about that. Is Flint here yet?”

“He's in the back.”

Bow squealed in excitement. “Stay right here, guys. I'm gonna be right back.” He ran off into the backroom, leaving Glimmer, Adora, and Catra with Tress, Aurora, and Mark.

Adora jumped in surprise when Tress poked the poof in her hair. “Do you always put it up like this?”

“Uh. Yeah,” mumbled Adora.

Tress hummed to himself. “Would look much better if it was down.”

“It gets in my way when it is. This way is much more functional.”

“Perhaps cut it in a more pixie cut style?” Tress put his tan hands in front of himself and covered his vision of Adora's ponytail with them. “Yes. That would look cute.”

Aurora leaned against him and looked out at his hands to see the same vision he was. “That would be cute, but that doesn't help with her clothes.”

Tress put his hands down and looked at Adora's outfit. “You are correct, sister. The hair does have to match the clothes.”

Adora hugged her jacket and said, “My clothes and hair are fine.”

Tress hummed to himself again. “You have to have something going for you then. Are you a princess?”

“Sort of. Sometimes.”

“What does that mean?” inquired Aurora.

Tress shrugged.

“Hellooooo, my baby brothers and sisters! The life of the party has reentered the room!” shouted someone excitedly.

They all turned to see a tall buff man in a navy plaid suit standing outside the backroom door. He had long wild bright orange hair with cat ears perked at the top of his head. His skin was covered in short brownish orange fur and he had a long orange tail with black stripes. Bow was holding onto one of his arms and enthusiastically pulling him with him.

“Guys! Guys! I want you all to meet my oldest brother, Flint!” said Bow as he came closer to them. “Like I was saying, this is my girlfriend, Glimmer, and those are my friends, Adora and Catra. They're dating. And look! Catra is a magicat, too!”

Flint smiled at them, flashing his sharp fangs. “Another magicat? How rare.”

“What? You had a magicat brother and you never thought to tell us?” asked Glimmer as she looked at him wide eyed. She felt so small compared to him. Catra was rather short, barely taller than Glimmer, but Flint easily stood as the tallest person in the room.

“You never asked,” laughed Bow.

“No wonder you knew so much about magicats,” said Adora. She had only ever seen another magicat once when they were saving Bow, Sea Hawk, and Swift Wind from pirates. It wasn't like they had a conversation at the time.

Catra stared at him, wide eyed and tail twitching. She had never seen another magicat. At least not since she was a very young child.

“It's nice to meet you, Catra. Magicats are a rather rare sight and I don't often run into them. Or really ever,” said Flint as he placed his hand on top of Catra's head and ruffled her hair. “That makes us like family. Anyone who is family to Bow is family to me, too.”

“Flint is really smart and great with machines. He taught me like everything I know about gadgetry,” said Bow as he began to bounce up and down in excitement while still holding onto his brother's arm. “You have to see my new arrows. I made some that shoot this sticky goo and these ones that shoot water. I have been trying to make ones that make a small explosion on impact for fighting robots, but they are so tricky. They keep exploding when jostling around in my quiver.”

Flint smiled down at Bow, his blue cat eyes lighting up. “We'll have to take a look at them together. I love a good puzzle.”

“Sorry we're late, but I brought cupcakes!” called someone as the library doors opened.

They turned to see a dark man with short deep purple hair and a beard enter the room with a smaller blond man with freckles. A woman dressed in a baggy brown body suit closed the door behind them. She had fluffy white hair in a pixie cut with big rabbit ears perked at the top of her head. Her skin was covered in short light blue fur. She pulled her goggles off her eyes and let them rest on her forehead as she came over to Flint. She inquisitively looked between Glimmer, Adora, and Catra.

“Guys, this is my oldest sister, Sky. Sky, this is my girlfriend, Glimmer, and my friends, Adora and Catra,” introduced Bow then pointed at the men who just entered the library. “That guy with the purple hair back there is my fifth oldest brother, Berry. I have no idea who the other guy is.”

“Pleasure to meet you all,” said Sky politely as she bowed her head slightly. She stood nearly an entire head taller than Bow. “His name is Nick apparently. He's Berry's fiance. I picked them up on the way here.”

“That's awesome! I have to go congratulate them.” Bow ran off to Berry and Nick who smiled at him and offered him a cupcake.

“Picked them up? Do you drive a machine or have a horse?” inquired Adora. Most people travel by foot. Machines were more of a Horde thing.

“I own a plane. Built it myself with the help of Flint,” explained Sky with a smile.

“It was a lot of fun to build. I normally just make small gadgets. Building that thing was quite the project,” said Flint with a laugh.

“Indeed. I've always loved looking up at the sky and it's even more interesting now that there are stars. I have been spending my times mapping the stars these last few months.”

“That sounds really cool. Could you show us sometime?” asked Adora.

“Have an interest in stars?”

“You could say that.”

Sky smiled at her. “They are quite mysterious. Just like our moons. Have you noticed there are thirteen now?”

Glimmer's eyes widened. “Scorpia mentioned something about that. I wonder if we gained another moon when we got the stars.”

Sky tilted her head at Glimmer in confusion. “That moon has been there for over a year. I noticed it long before the stars appeared.”

“How can that be? How could we have gained a moon while still in Despondos?” wondered Adora.

Sky shrugged. “It's something I have been wondering, too, but alas, I don't have an answer.”

“Surprise!”

“This family sure seems to like making their grand entrances,” muttered Catra as they all turned to the doors once again to see George and Lance were standing in front of them.

“It's my birthday!” called Lance excitedly.

“Your birthday is not for another two weeks,” pointed out Berry.

“Well it wouldn't be much of a surprise if it was on my birthday.”

“Daddy!” said Lyric as she ran over to Lance and hugged him. “I love you, but that's not how surprise parties work.”

“Well no one ever threw me one, so I threw my own.”

“I told him that he couldn't throw his own surprise party,” said George.

“And I told you that you were spoiling the fun.” Lance turned to place a kiss on Lyric's forehead as she pulled at his arm. “I love you, too, Lyric, but I think I am getting too old for this.”

“How old are you now, Mr. Bow's Dad?” inquired Adora.

Lance laughed and exclaimed, “32!”

Bow smirked as he said, “Dad, if you were 32, that would have made you 11 when you had me and you would be younger than some of your kids.”

Lance put his hand on Bow's head and slowly pushed him away. “Shush.” Bow laughed. “Fine. I'm 37 then.”

“You can't just make yourself only one year older than your oldest kid.”

“What are you? The age police?” Lance huffed and walked further inside to greet his other children and hug his grandchildren.

“He's just self-conscious because he is turning 56 this year,” explained George.

“I heard that and that's a lie!” shouted back Lance while holding one of his grandchildren.

“Fine. You're turning 79.”

“Don't go up!”

George laughed and rolled his eyes. “There's something else we wanted to announce now that all of you are together.”

Everyone in the room looked at him expectantly as he opened the doors again. Two teen boys entered the room. They both had the same exact face with golden blond hair, yellow eyes, and lightly tanned skin. One of the boys had long hair that went all the way down to the middle of his back tied in a low ponytail while the other had it cut short. They were dressed in the same style sweater - the one with short hair had it in red and the other in orange -, baggy khaki pants, and brown boots. George placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“This is Rise and Set. They're twin brothers we found the other day while exploring a First One's ruins. They lost their parents during the war a long time ago and have been living in the ruins ever since. They are only 14 and we have decided to take them in. They have expressed an interest in history and we hope to teach them all we know.”

“Oh wow. Younger brothers. I have so many siblings, but I've never gotten younger ones before,” said Bow excitedly as he pulled Rise and Set into a hug. Their eyes widened and they stiffened in his arms.

“Now let's get this party started!” called Lance.

“Um... Daddy. Since I didn't know this was a birthday party, I didn't bring you a gift,” apologized Lyric.

Lance stared at her for several moments before he said, “You know, that is a flaw in my plan. Perhaps that's why surprise parties don't work in reverse. Oh well. There's still cake.”

Soon the party was in full swing. Each of the siblings welcomed Rise and Set into the family, which seemed to overwhelm them and they put themselves into a more secluded corner. Tress and Aurora made their way over to them to critique their attire. Some of the siblings came over to meet Glimmer, Adora, and Catra who were now sitting together on one of the couches. Bow ran off several times to be with different siblings. Lyric pulled out her violin and had begun to play while Carol sang along. Flint sat on the armrest of the couch beside Catra and looked at her for several moments.

“You know, you have unusual eyes. Even for a magicat. I have never seen a magicat with two different colored eyes before,” said Flint. He scratched his chin. “I feel like I heard a saying about them before, but I can't quite place how it went.”

“Honey, look who is awake,” said a woman as she walked over to them. She had long curly black hair that was held in place by a headband. In her dark arms, she held a bundle of blankets that was moving.

Flint got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is my beautiful wife, Onyx. And this-” he took the bundle of blankets from her arms and pulled them back to reveal a small toddler who yawned and rubbed at his eyes. The toddler was covered in fluffy orange fur, had fuzzy cat ears perked on top of his head, and a bushy orange tail with black stripes. “-is our son, Clay.”

Adora's eyes sparkled and she jumped to her feet as she said, “He's so cute.”

“You can hold him.”

“I can?”  
  


He placed Clay in Adora's arms who grinned widely at him. Glimmer stood beside Adora and tentatively touched his cheek. “He's so soft,” whispered Glimmer.

Clay sucked on his thumb as he stared at Glimmer with wide brown eyes.

“Come see the baby, Catra.” Catra slowly walked to be beside Adora and uneasily looked at Clay. “Want to hold him?”

Catra frantically shook her head as she said, “No. No. I'm good.”

“Aw. You've gotten bigger since I last seen you,” squealed Sky as she came over to them with Bow. Sky gently ran her fingers through Clay's unruly hair.

“It's been too long since I've last seen you, Buddy,” said Bow as he rubbed Clay's back.

Clay leaned against Adora and began to purr. Adora's grin impossibly widened and her eyes began to sparkle more as well as Glimmer's eyes.

“Yep. Ever since he was born, people have cared way more about seeing him than me,” laughed Flint.

“Oh you're still there?” giggled Onyx.

“Very funny. Oh well. Works for me. I plan to drink tonight.”

Sky looked at Glimmer when she felt her stare.

“Oh sorry,” apologized Glimmer. “I was just looking at your goggles. Where did you get them? I am on a hunt to find cool sunglasses for Catra.”

“You're still on that?” inquired Catra as she rolled her eyes.

“Yes. It's important.”

“Sunglasses you say? Wait right here,” said Flint before he ran off. He came back shortly after and put a thin wire headband on Catra. Once it was on, it was no longer visible through her thick hair. “Now put these on.”

Flint handed Catra a pair of sunglasses and for the first time, she was able to slide them on and they stayed in place. The headband Flint had placed on her had small hooks on the side in place of ears. “How do I look?”

“Really cool,” complimented Adora.

“I knew they would suit you,” added Glimmer.

“Go on,” smiled Catra as she posed.

“You're very sexy,” continued Adora as she placed a kiss on Catra's cheek.

Catra blushed a deep red.

“Just letting you know, the sunglasses only cover your eyes. They do nothing for your red cheeks,” laughed Glimmer.

“Shut up. I am not,” complained Catra as she tried to will away her blush to no avail.

“You can keep them as a token of now being a part of the extended Rain family, little sister,” laughed Flint as he ruffled Catra's hair.

“Wait. Rain family? Your last name is Rain?” Catra turned to Bow. “You made fun of my name when your name is Bow _Rain_? You're named after a rainbow. Are you kidding me?”

Bow groaned. “Thanks, Flint. I was trying to avoid that.”

“You're welcome! Now if you excuse me, I am going to go drink,” laughed Flint as he turned with flair to the drink table.

“Are you okay with him calling you 'little sister'? I mean, after...” whispered Glimmer to Catra.

Catra shook her head and replied, “No. It's not the same. When Prime did it... It was for control, but Flint seems... like he's just trying to be nice and welcoming. So it's okay.”

“Excuse me.”

They turned to see the twins were now standing by them. The one with long hair stood behind the other one and clutched at his brother's shirt. His eyes were wide and his mouth shut tight while the one with shorter hair stood straight with a determined look in his eyes.

“Are you Adora?” asked the twin with short hair.

Adora nodded while still cradling Clay in her arms.

“Lance and George mentioned an Adora who could turn into She-Ra. Is that you?” continued the twin.

Sky and Onyx who still stood in the group looked at Adora in surprise.

“Yeah. That's me. Which twin are you?”

“I'm Rise,” replied the twin with shorter hair as his eyes lit up. “This is so cool! You're like a hero! You saved everyone and stopped the Horde! I can't believe I'm meeting you!”

Adora smiled and blushed. “It wasn't just me. We were able to because we all worked together. Bow was able to get the chips off people, Glimmer fought some pretty tough people, and _Catra_ ,” Adora gestured to Catra in excitement while trying not to jostle Clay in her arms, “...well I wouldn't be here at all without her.”

“But they wouldn't have been able to without you. You are the champion of Etheria and that is just the coolest!”

“Adora is pretty awesome,” agreed Glimmer then pointed to herself, “But I am also the Queen of Etheria.”

Rise looked at Glimmer blankly for several moments before he stated in a monotone voice, “That's cool. You're very pink.” He turned back to Adora, his excitement returning. “What was like fighting all those bots attacking the Whispering Woods? I heard you took out ones that could regenerate.”

Glimmer frowned and raised her hand in annoyance. Bow placed his hand on Glimmer's to lower it back down as he said, “I know, but calm down. He's just a kid who is excited to meet his hero.”

“I'm cool, too,” mumbled Glimmer as Bow nodded in agreement.

Adora enthusiastically began to tell tales of different battles she had been in while Rise listened to her intently. Set continued to not say anything and cling to his brother's shirt. As Adora continued, Sky took Clay from her arms.

“My turn,” said Sky as she did so.

Adora stopped mid-sentence to look at Clay as he was taken away from her and muttered to herself, “I bet Catra's baby will be just as cute.” Her eyes widened when she realized she had said that out loud. She looked at Catra's red cheeks and then glanced away to look at the ceiling. “Where was I?”

“You were talking about when you went to Beast Island,” reminded Rise.

“Oh right. After the vines surrounded me, I was finally able to become She-Ra again and-”

Catra separated from the group as Adora continued. She occupied herself with getting punch to try and calm her mind. Adora's comment was effecting her more than she thought it would and her mind buzzed with wonder if Adora also thought about a long future with children together. Catra used to think of it when they were teenagers far more than she would like to admit and such a future seemed so unlikely until a little bit ago.

Catra leaned back against the drink table and watched Adora from afar. The room was buzzing with noise from several conversations happening in the room. She picked through them and focused on just Adora's voice. She closed her eyes and listened to her talk. She opened her eyes some time later when she began to hear someone approach, thinking she was blocking the table. She was surprised to see Rise now standing beside her and looking at her intently. Catra glanced back to see Adora had sat back down on the couch and was talking to Set who was sitting as far away as he could on the couch, watching Adora with wide eyes.

“Yes?” inquired Catra when Rise didn't say anything.

“You're with She-Ra?”

Catra raised an eyebrow at him. “I am.”

Rise shook his head. “That doesn't make any sense.”

“So? Adora is an adult and she wants to.” Catra's crossed her arms in defiance.

“But why would she get with a Horde member? Isn't that the enemy to us all?”

Catra's eyes widened and she glanced at Adora again. _She wouldn't_ , thought Catra. She was trying to make a good impression on people, but she couldn't if people kept making assumptions on her before they got to know her. “How did you-”

Rise shook his head. “Of course you are. You're a beast. Most are part of the Horde.”

“Not all of them. Flint isn't. And I don't think Sky was either. Or what about that other guy? Mark, was it?”

Rise shook his head again. “I already have to deal with beasts in my new family.” He glared at her harshly and Catra was taken aback with the intensity of it. “I will not deal with it with She-Ra as well.”

Rise then ran off to go back to Adora and smiled sweetly at her as he sat between Adora and Set. Catra took a deep breath to calm herself down. _Be rational, Catra_ , she thought, _He's just a child. Bow's dads did mention they lost their parents to the war. Maybe they are a bit resentful of the Horde. Bow's dads seem nice. They will probably set them both straight._

“Hey, little sister.”

Catra jumped in surprise at the sudden voice beside her while she was trying to calm her breathing down.

“Sorry. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you there,” laughed Flint.

Catra turned to see Flint who's eyes were a bit glassy and cheeks rosy. He was slightly unsteady on his feet, clearly a bit intoxicated.

“I remembered the eye thing saying. It goes 'Blue like the vast sky. Yellow like the light of day. When separate, they are strong. When together, they are infinite. Anyone with the intertwined colors are granted good fortune.' Not sure how true that saying is, but it seems pretty cool.”

Catra sadly smiled as she looked back at Adora who she could see had a big goofy grin on from a distance and replied, “I dunno how much good fortune they have brought me, but hopefully... At least some.”

My friend, Erin, drew me some fan art of Lyric. :) See more of her art at: <https://www.instagram.com/erinmillerartist/?hl=en>

My friend, Envy, drew me some art of Rise and Set. :) Check out more of his art at: <https://envyartist.webs.com/>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally got to meet Bow's infamous siblings! I have never read any fic containing them, so no idea how unique they are compared to other fics featuring them. I had a lot of fun creating their designs and naming them punny names. When we first learned Bow had 12 older siblings, I thought that was excessive until I put into context that George and Lance travel the all over a war stricken land. Them running into orphans is not only possible, but inevitable. I know Noelle and the rest of the crew refer to Bow's siblings as his brothers, but in the show, it's never specified. Lance says they received something from Bow's older brother then when Glimmer comments on that, Lance says Bow it the youngest of 13. It's never specified that all those siblings as brothers and I am taking full advantage of that fact. XD
> 
> Did you know there were bunny people in OG She-Ra? Reboot She-Ra did so many great things, but we were cheated out of bunny people. D: So I gave Bow a bunny sister to bring them into the reboot. XD Also yes I totally did name the lizard people after the lizard people in Zelda. It's also the Japanese name for Charmeleon. Also I am very proud of myself for giving my lizard character such a normal name like Mark, but still a pun because he's an artist. XD Also Mark was implying he thought Glimadotra was a thing rather than Catradora and Glimbow.
> 
> Here is a compiled list of Bow's siblings, they are placed in age order and in parenthesis is the order they joined the family in: Flint (1), Haven (3), Sky (8), Anise (4), Cliff (2), River (7), Carol (9), Berry (11), Mark (10), Lyric (5), Aurora (12), Tress (13), Bow (6), and now Rise (14) and Set (15)


End file.
